Dabur Ltd is an Indian multinational consumer goods company, founded by S. K. Burman and headquartered in
Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziabad Muni ...
. It manufactures
Ayurvedic
Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repor ...
medicine and natural consumer products, and is one of the largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in India. Dabur derives around 60% of its revenue from the consumer care business, 11% from the food business and remaining from the international business unit.
History
Dabur was founded in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
by Dr. S. K. Burman in 1884. Burman's family had migrated from
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
to Kolkata and are Punjabi Khatris by origin. In the mid-1880s, as an Ayurvedic practitioner in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, he formulated Ayurvedic medicines for diseases like cholera, constipation and malaria. As a qualified physician, he went on to sell his medicines in
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
on a bicycle. His patients started referring him and his medicines as "Dabur", a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsgherao-ed by his own workers during a labor unrest in Kolkata. Due to the unpleasant situation, G.C Burman decided to move the factory to
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...
, where his brothers later relocated. In Delhi, the business thrived and the company soon became headquartered there. In the words of business historian Sonu Bhasin "Calcutta's loss was Delhi's gain."
The current chairman, Dr.
Anand Burman
Anand Ashok Chand Burman (born 1952) is an Indian billionaire businessman, and chairman of Dabur a leading consumer goods company. With a net worth of $5.8 billion, he is among the Top 20 richest Indians and on the ''Forbes'' list.
Early life ...
, and vice-chairman Amit Burman, are part of the fifth generation of the family. They were among the first business families in India to separate ownership from management, when they handed over the management of the company to professionals in 1998.
2022.10 Dabur Ltd will acquire the 51 per cent stake in Badshah Masala for a cash consideration of ₹587.52 crore.
Pharma and healthcare
Dabur demerged its Pharma business in 2003 and hived it off into a separate company, Dabur Pharma Ltd. German company Fresenius SE bought a 73.27% equity share in Dabur Pharma in June 2008 at ₹76.50 a share.
Dabur International, a fully owned subsidiary of Dabur India formerly held shares in the UAE-based Weikfield International, which it sold in June 2012.
Philanthropy
Dabur's Sustainable Development Society (Sundesh) is a non-profit organisation started by Burman that aims to carry out welfare activities in the spheres of health care, education and other socio-economic activities. Dabur drives its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives through Sundesh.
The 2015 Brand Trust Report puts Dabur at 19th place.
Controversy
Former executive director Pradip Burman was on the list of
black money
A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...
account holders on 27 October 2014 when BJP government revealed the names. Dabur rejected the black money charge.
In December 2020, a report by the Centre for Science and Environment showed that Dabur Honey, along with other major brands' products, was adulterated with sugar syrup.
Hajmola or Hazmola () is an ayurvedic digestive tablet sold as a treatment for dyspepsia by Dabur under that name since the 1950s. A
counterfeit
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
of the product was trademarked by "Hilal Foods (Pvt.) Limited" (estb. 1986), a Clifton, Karachi based company, in Pakistan which had been selling it since at least the 1980s. When Dabur began operating in Pakistan, it filed an
intellectual property infringement
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator ...
suit against Hilal through its subsidiary which was ultimately settled by the Sindh High Court allowing both Hilal and Dabur to use the Hajmola trademark.
Shareholding pattern
Dabur has a total of 296,439 shareholders as of 31 March 2021 and the number of fully paid up equity shares held are 1,767,425,349.