Ramnath Govind Kare (born 18 October 1934), also known as Ramnathbab and Babu. is an Indian industrialist, educationist, and philanthropist based in

Margao, Goa Margao (, ) is the commercial capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Goa. It stands on the banks of the river Sal River (India), Sal. It is the district headquarters of South Goa district, South Goa, and administr ...

. An avid reader, he studied at St Xaviers College in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

Enterprises

Kare started DCI Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd in Margao in 1968. He took over an aluminium packaging unit, Classic Extrusion Pvt Ltd at the Margao Industrial Estate, and started more pharma units at the Verna Industrial Estate, Verna and at Ponda, both in Goa.

Family business background

His father, Govind Ramnath Kare, began with small time trading in pharmaceutical products and founded Drogaria Salcete in 1932. He assisted his father in setting up the Salcete Pharmacy, when Goa was still under Portuguese rule. As there was an Indian blockade of Goa between 1955 and 1961, the Portuguese government then in power allowed businessmen to procure pharmaceutical products from reputed foreign companies, such as Abbott Laboratories, Merck, Takede Chemicals and the like. His family started a small drug manufacturing unit in

Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

near Mumbai in 1946, Indoco Remedies Farmacia Salcete and Drogaria Salcete became prominent names in Goa, and were looked after by Kare's youngest brother, Ashok, who died in 2012. These firms are now managed by his two sons, Salil and Kunal. His younger brother Suresh took over the manufacturing unit near Mumbai, and over the years it grew to a turnover of Rs 1500 crore annually. Suresh Kare subsequently handed it over to his daughter, Aditi Panandikar.

Philanthropy and education

He has been associated with the Margao-based educational network, the Vidya Vikas Mandal, of which he was the president. The VVM runs the prominent Shree Damodar College of Commerce & Economics in Margao besides the Vidya Vikas Academy and a number of other institutions. Kare has narrated how he helped build the VVM, facing a crisis due to a lack of funds to clear teaching staff salary arrears, and a crash in the structure of the existing rented premises during the monsoons. In 1979, the Kare family donated to start the

Govind Ramnath Kare College of Law The Govind Ramnath Kare College of Law, popularly known as the G.R. Kare College of Law, and also as the Kare Law College, is a law college located at Comba in Margao, Goa. Kare College is the only centre of legal education in the district of ...

. The GVM has since expanded and grown. It claims a total of 5,000 students on its rolls and about 400 teaching and non-teaching staff.

Posts held

Kare has been the president of the Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He has been on the board of

State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...

- Mumbai Board, State Bank of India Mutual, the

Economic Development Corporation An economic development corporation ("EDC") is an organization common in the United States, usually a 501(c)(3) non-profit, whose mission is to promote economic development within a specific geographical area. These organizations are complementary ...

(EDC), Finolex,

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn by IHG is a chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson (1913–2003), who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division ...

and among others.

Views on business

In 2002, as Chairman of the Kare Group, he has been quoted as having wondered why Goa "could not be like Switzerland where tourism and industry go hand in hand".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kare, Ramnath Businesspeople from Goa Living people 1934 births People from Margao People from Portuguese India St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni