Peerless Group is an Indian business conglomerate headquartered in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

History

The company was established in 1932 by industrialist Radhashyam Roy (then a School Teacher) in

Narayanganj Narayanganj () is a city in central Bangladesh in the Greater Dhaka area. It is in the Narayanganj District, about southeast of the capital city of Dhaka. With a population of almost 1 million, it is the 6th largest city in Bangladesh. It is als ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. The company shifted base to Calcutta (now

) in 1935. Also in 1932, he along with his friend and co-promoter Kali Kumar Chatterjee registered Hollywood Pictures Limited and later as an extension to film-making business, he built Jayshree Cinema Hall at

Baranagar Baranagar (Bengali language, Bengali: বরানগর) is a city and a municipality in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area ...

which was slated to open in 1946. Also in 1943, he registered Indian National Bank and was eager to convert it into a scheduled bank. But, due to communal riots ahead of

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 ...

delayed the plan. But, both the cinema hall and the bank went into liquidation. After the liquidation Peerless Life Insurance became the flagship company. Thereafter, Peerless Life Insurance was nationalized in 1956 and merged with

Life Insurance Corporation The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is an Indian public sector life insurance company headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's largest insurance company as well as the largest institutional investor with total assets under management wo ...

. Post-

liberalization Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used ...

, Peerless General Finance & Investment Company Limited was established as a Registered Residuary Non-banking Company. In 2022, Sunil Kanti Roy, the Managing Director of the Group and a

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

recipient, died. He had assumed the leadership of the conglomerate from his elder brother, B.K. Roy, in 1985.

Businesses

Currently, the Peerless Group operates with the following subsidiaries: *Peerless General Finance & Investment Company - General Insurance *Peerless Hospital - Healthcare *Bengal Peerless - Real Estate *Kaizen Holidays - Hospitality *Peerless Hotels - Hospitality * Peerless Sports Club - Sports *Peerless Securities - Security

References

{{Insurance in India Life insurance companies of India Financial services companies of India Companies based in Kolkata Conglomerate companies established in 1932 Conglomerate companies of India Financial services companies established in 1932 Indian companies established in 1932