Mahindra Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. The group has operations in over 100 countries, with a presence in

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

, aftermarket automotive components, construction equipment, defence,

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

, farm equipment, finance and insurance, industrial equipment,

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

leisure Leisure (, ) has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, Employment, work, job hunting, Housekeeping, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as ...

and

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship of a host towards a guest, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill and welcome. This includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, ...

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

, real estate,

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

and

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

. The group's flagship company Mahindra & Mahindra has market leadership in utility vehicles as well as tractors in India.

History

Mahindra & Mahindra was incorporated as Mahindra & Mohammed in 1945 by the brothers J. C. Mahindra and K. C. Mahindra, and Malik Ghulam Muhammad in Ludhiana, Punjab to trade steel. Following the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947, Malik Ghulam Muhammad left the company and emigrated to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, where he became the first finance minister of the new state (and later the third Governor General in 1951). In 1948, K. C. Mahindra changed the company's name to Mahindra & Mahindra. Building on their expertise in the steel industry, the Mahindra brothers began trading steel with UK suppliers. They won a contract to manufacture Willys Jeeps in India and began producing them in 1947. By 1956, the company was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, and by 1969 the company became an exporter of utility vehicles and spare parts. Like many Indian companies, Mahindra responded to the restrictions of the Licence Raj by expanding into other industries. Mahindra & Mahindra created a

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

division in 1982 and a tech division (now Tech Mahindra) in 1986. It has continued to diversify its operations through both joint ventures and greenfield investments. By 1994, the group had become so diverse that it undertook a fundamental reorganization, dividing into six Strategic Business Units: Automotive; Farm Equipment;

Infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

;

Trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

and

Financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

;

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

; and Automotive Components (known internally as Systech). The new

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, Anand Mahindra, followed this reorganization with a new logo in 2000 and the successful launch of the Mahindra Scorpio (a wholly indigenously designed vehicle) in 2002. Along with an overhaul in production and manufacturing methods, these changes helped make the company more competitive, and since then the Group's reputation and revenues have risen noticeably. Currently, Mahindra & Mahindra is one of the 20 largest companies in India In 2009, Forbes ranked Mahindra among the top 200 most reputable companies in the world. In January 2011, the Mahindra Group launched a new corporate brand, Mahindra Rise, to unify Mahindra's image across industries and geographies. The brand positions Mahindra products and services as aspirational, supporting customers' ambitions to 'Rise.' In April 2012, the Mahindra Group expressed interest in purchasing the bankrupt automobile company Saab, and placed several bids for Saab, though was outbid by Saab's new owner National Electric Vehicle Sweden.

Affiliated companies

* Aerospace :* Mahindra Aerostructures * Aftermarket :* Mahindra FirstChoice Services :* Mahindra First Choice Wheels * Agribusiness :* Mahindra Agribusiness Division :* EPC Mahindra * Automotive :* Mahindra & Mahindra * Components :* Mahindra Accelo * Consulting :* Mahindra Integrated Business Solutions :* Mahindra Logisoft :* Mahindra Special Services Group * Defence :* Mahindra & Mahindra – Military Defence Division * Education :*

Mahindra United World College of India UWC Mahindra College (sometimes known as the ''Mahindra United World College of India'', or MUWCI) is a pre-university international boarding school, located west of Pune in Maharashtra, India. The college is a two-year programme with about 240 ...

:* Mahindra École Centrale * Energy :* Mahindra Solar One :* Mahindra Susten * Farm equipment :* Mahindra & Mahindra – Farm Equipment Division :* Mahindra USA Inc :* Mahindra Yueda (Yancheng) Tractor Co :* Mahindra Tractors :* Erkunt Tractor :*Gromax Agri Equipment :* Mahindra Swaraj :* Jiangling Tractors * Financial services :* Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited * Hospitality :* Mahindra Holidays and Resorts * Information Technology :* Tech Mahindra * Logistics :* Mahindra Logistics * Ecommerce :* M2ALL * Real estate :* Mahindra Lifespaces :* Mahindra World City * Sports :* Mahindra Racing :* Mahindra United FC (non-functional) *Media :* Hungama Digital Media Entertainment

Community initiatives

The Mahindra Group is extensively involved in

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

and volunteering. It is considered an active participant in the Indian

Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) or corporate social impact is a form of international private business industry self-regulation, self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropy, philanthropic, activist, or chari ...

field and received the Pegasus Award for CSR in 2007. Mahindra engages in philanthropy primarily through the KC Mahindra Trust, which serves as the CSR arm of the group (although many subsidiaries have their own CSR initiatives, notably Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam). Founded in 1953 by K.C Mahindra, the trust focuses primarily on fostering

literacy in India Literacy in India is a key for social-economic progress. The 2011 census, indicated a 2001–2011 literacy growth of 9.2%, which is slower than the growth seen during the previous decade. At the then-current rate of progress in 1990, one study ...

and promoting higher learning through grants and scholarships. Mahindra operates several vocational schools as well as the Mahindra United World College. The KC Mahindra Trust's primary project however is Project Nanhi Kali, which targets the education of young

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n girls. The foundation currently supports the education of approximately 153,190 underprivileged girls. Other initiatives include Mahindra Hariyali (a 1 million tree planting campaign) as well as sponsorship of the Lifeline Express, a mobile hospital train. Mahindra employees also plan and lead their own service projects through Mahindra's Employee Social Options Plans. In 2009, more than 35,000 employees participated. The Mahindra Group was responsible for the creation of Mahindra United World College, a UWC campus located in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. Mahindra supports the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards to recognize Indian theater talent, the Mahindra Indo-American Film Festival, and the Mahindra Lucknow Festival. In 2011, it held the first annual Mahindra Blues Festival with guests including Buddy Guy, Johnny Lang, and Shemekia Copeland at the Mehboob Studios in Mumbai. Mahindra partners with the NBA and Celtic Football Club to bring grassroots basketball and football to India.

Leadership

Keshub Mahindra was the Chairman Emeritus of Mahindra & Mahindra and a graduate of Wharton Business School,

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, USA. He joined the company in 1947 and became the chairman in 1963. During his career he has also been Chairman of Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (1966–67), President of ASSOCHAM (1969–70), Chairman of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (1975–85); Member of the Foundation Board – International Institute for Management Development (1984–89). His awards include: Companion – British Institute of Management (1985), Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (1987), Business India – Businessman of the Year (1989), Honorary Fellowship of All India Management Association (1990), Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance (2004), Lakshya Business Visionary Award – NITIE (2006), ICFAI Business School (IBS) Kolkata Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) (2007). At the time of the Bhopal Disaster he was managing director of Union Carbide India Ltd. (In 2010 he was charged and indicted for causing death due to negligence and sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment and Rs 1 Lakh fine.) He was granted bail shortly after being sentenced. Anand Mahindra is chairman and managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and earned his MBA from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 1981. He joined the Mahindra Group in 1981 as an Executive Assistant to the Finance Director of the Mahindra Ugine Steel Company.

References

External links