Radhe Shyam Agarwal (also known as R S Agarwal) is an Indian entrepreneur, co-founder and executive chairman of

Emami Emami Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Kolkata. The company caters to a number of niche categories in the personal care and healthcare segments. The company's products are sold across 60+ nations and are availabl ...

, a global group of company engaged in the business of

FMCG Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), also known as consumer packaged goods (CPG) or convenience goods, are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, bevera ...

, paper, real estate, edible oils, health care and cement. Radhe is among the top 100 richest Indians and was listed by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' as having a net worth of $1.43 billion in 2015.

Early life

Radhe was born in a

Marwari Marwari may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India, largely in the Thar Desert ** Marwari people, an Indian ethnic group originating in the Marwar region ** Marwari language, the language of the Marwari ...

family on 18 February 1946 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 ...

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 ...

. Radhe completed his college education from

St. Xavier's College A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

. He got his

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

; and M.Com from

. Radhe is a Chartered Accountant from

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Abbreviation, abbreviated as ICAI, is India's largest professional accounting body under the administrative control of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. It was established on ...

and

Company Secretary A Company secretary is a senior position in the corporate governance of organizations, playing a crucial role in ensuring adherence to statutory and regulatory requirements. This position is integral to the efficient functioning of corporations, ...

from

Institute of Company Secretaries of India The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is a national professional body in India under the ownership of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India with the objective of promoting, regulating and developing the profession of ...

. In 1970 Radhe joined

Aditya Birla Group Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. The group's business interests include metals, cement, fashion and retail, financial services, renewables, fibre, textiles, chemicals, real estate, trading, ...

as vice president.

Emami

In 1974 Radhe along with his school friend

Radhe Shyam Goenka Radhe Shyam Goenka (also known as R. S. Goenka) is an Indian people, Indian entrepreneur, co-founder and whole time Director of Emami, a diversified business conglomerate engaged in the business of Fast Moving Consumer Goods, FMCG, paper, real e ...

started a cosmetics company

. The company was started with a capital of $2600 borrowed from Radhe Shyam Goenka's father. Emami is now a multiple business global group of companies with a

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

of above $1.3 billion.

Associations

Radhe also serves as Joint Chairman and Director of Emami group of companies, Executive Director of Emami, and Director of Zandu Realty. He had also served as Director of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and Trustee of Merchant Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

Family

Radhe is married to Usha Bansal and has two sons, Aditya Agarwal and Harsh Agarwal, and one daughter, Priti Agarwal Sureka. The entire family is part of the Emami group and lives on tony Southern Avenue in

. Priti Agarwal is married to Raj Sureka.

Criminal charges

In the early morning of 9 December 2011, an AMRI Hospital in south Kolkata's Dhakuria district erupted in fire, leading to the deaths of 92 people — mostly critically ill patients, many of them suffocating in their sleep. The following day, the license for the hospital was cancelled, and the Chief Minister of

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 ...

ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident. Allegedly, the fire was triggered by flammable chemicals that were stored at the site.
Economic Times, 10 December 2011 Rescue efforts were hampered by the narrowness and congestion of the road leading to the hospital, and the allegations that all of the windows and doors were locked and that the fire alarms and sprinklers installed at the hospital did not work during the fire. Seven members of the hospital's board were arrested the same day, and were remanded to police custody until 20 December by the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate in

Alipore Alipore is a neighbourhood of Kolkata, South Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is flanked by the Tolly Nullah to the north, Bhowanipore to the east, the Diamond Harbour R ...

. Among the seven arrested were Agarwal and Goenka, founders of Emami and directors of the hospital chain, who were charged with negligently causing the deaths. Ultimately a total of 16 people stood accused in the courts in July 2016, including the board members and several directors of the hospital. Amongst the charges were culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment in cases where the criminal actions are undertaken knowingly but without the intention to cause death. Additional charges were laid under Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and Section 38 (effect caused partly by act and partly by omission). The fire was recorded as the largest hospital tragedy in India at the time.

References

External links

Radhe Shyam Agarwal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agarwal, Radhe Shyam Living people 1946 births Indian industrialists Indian billionaires Businesspeople from Kolkata University of Calcutta alumni Indian businesspeople