Muthiah Chidambaram Muthiah Chidambaram Chettiar (2 August 1908 13 March 1954) better known as M.CT.M.Chidambaram was an Indian

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

who founded the Indian Overseas Bank. He was a member of the M. Ct. family.

Early life and education

Chidambaram Chettiar was born at Kanadukathan on 2 August 1908. His father Sir M Ct. Muthiah Chettiar (1887-1929) was a banker who served as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council of India. Muthiah Chettiar was a nephew of Ramaswami Chettiar, founder of the Indian Bank and Sir Annamalai Chettiar, the Raja of Chettinad. Chidambaram Chettiar had his early education at Madras Christian College High School but discontinued his education in the middle to pursue the family business of banking.

Career

Chidambaram Chettiar succeeded his father as a director of the Indian Bank on the latter's death in 1929. Chidambaram Chettiar soon emerged as one of the top industrialists in the country. On 10 February 1937, he founded the Indian Overseas Bank, which concentrated on improving the country's industrial sector. The bank began business simultaneously from its branches at

Karaikudi Karaikudi is the largest city of Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the centre of the Karaikudi Metropolitan Area, the 21st largest urban Agglomeration of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of the area ...

and

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

. Chidambaram Chettiar was also one of the founders of United India Assurance. In 1944, with the assistance of Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer and British technical expertise, Chidambaram Chettiar founded the Travancore Rayons Limited, with a factory near

Perumbavoor Perumbavoor () is a municipality in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. It is located north of the district collectorate in Thrikkakara and about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. Perumbavoor is part of the Kochi metrop ...

. The Travancore Rayons Limited was the first

rayon Rayon, also called viscose and commercialised in some countries as sabra silk or cactus silk, is a semi-synthetic fiber made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose fiber, cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has t ...

manufacturing company in India. Chidambaram Chettiar also served as a director of Indian Bank from 1930 to 1940 and 1945 to 1949.

Death

Chidambaram Chettiar died on 13 March 1954 when the British Overseas Airways flight Lockheed L-749A Constellation, G-ALAM on which he was travelling, crashed at Kallang Airport,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, when it landed short and struck a sea wall after a flight from

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, killing 33 people out of 40 passengers and crew on board.

Family

Chidambaram Chettiar was married to Valliammai Achi. They had two sons - Muthiah Chettiar and Pethachi chettiar.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chettyar, M. Ct. M. Chidambaram 1908 births 1954 deaths Indian bankers Indian company founders Businesspeople from Tamil Nadu Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in India Indian businesspeople in textiles Indian industrialists Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India 20th-century Indian philanthropists Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1954