Walchand Hirachand Doshi (23 November 1882 – 8 April 1953) was an Indian

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

and the founder of the Walchand group. He established India's first modern

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance ...

, first aircraft factory and first car factory; he also established construction companies, sugarcane plantations, sugar factories, confectioneries, engineering companies and many other businesses.Dalit phobia: why do they hate us? by Chandra Bhan Prasad, 2006, pp 228The Indian encyclopaedia: biographical, historical, religious, ...: Volume 2 by Subodh Kapoor, 2002

Early life

Walchand Hirachand was from

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

family hailing from Wankaner in Gujarat, who had settled in

Solapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, with a branch lin ...

in the erstwhile

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

. He was born in Solapur, (now in Maharashtra) in a

family to Seth Hirachand Nemchand Doshi by his first wife Raju. Hirachand was engaged in cotton trading and money lending. Walchand's mother died a few days after his birth. Hirachand married later to Sakhubai to whom his half-brothers Gulabchand, Ratanchand and Lalchand were born.

Education

Walchand matriculated in 1899 from Solapur Government High School and later attended St. Xaviers College;Mumbai and earned a BA degree from University of Mumbai. Later he attended Deccan College in Pune but left his studies incomplete to join his family business.

Marriage

While he was still studying, in 1900 he married Jiu Kilachand, daughter of a Solapur banker. From this marriage, he had a daughter named Chatur, but his wife died in childbirth. Later in 1913, under family pressure, he married to Kastur Mehta. From his second marriage, he had a boy and girl child but both died in infancy.

Early business

After spending a few years in his father's family business of banking and cotton trades, he realised he was not interested in the family business. He became a railway contractor for constructions in partnership with a former railway

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

, Laxmanrao Balwant Phatak; the partnership later became Phatak-Walchand private limited. Walchand proved to be a successful railway contractor but was open to other business ideas as well.

Career

Walchand was noted for his ambition and vision. Among his adversaries, the more charitable termed him a dreamer while the less charitable dismissed him as a person who wanted to run even before learning to walk. Despite not hailing from an established business house, the projects undertaken by Walchand were grand in design, to say the least. While attention to detail in planning was not one of his strengths, he always seemed to know how to find his way around. This was true especially with respect to manpower management, meeting deadlines and raising funds. Most of his projects were highly leveraged. While he seemed to oppose nationalisation and government control of some of the projects he started such as the shipyard and the aircraft factory, the fact remains that these businesses may have had to face liquidation but for government investing the money. Also, it needs to be noted that the government also had a strong interest in the operation of these industries as it directly helped in its war efforts. Despite exercising management control in firms such as Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd., Hindustan Aircraft and Hindustan Shipyard, he was not the largest shareholder in any of these companies. He understood the power of mass media and cultivated it to gather public support for his projects; while this may appear to be easy in the politically charged days of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

, it also has to be kept in mind that running newspapers perceived to be in opposition with the government was fraught with dangers. Thus, it becomes clear that his persuasive abilities were helpful in generating good press and public goodwill towards his projects. As a contractor engaged in construction, his biggest customer was the British government; he worked with British officials closely in several projects. However, he supported the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

and most of his projects were inaugurated (including launching of new ships) by famous freedom fighters. He was able to maintain a fine line between these opposite forces. Walchand along with Annie Besant and M. R. Jayakar together were the first sponsors of pioneering national news agency, the

Free Press of India Free Press of India was an Indian nationalist-supporting news agency founded in the 1920s by Swaminathan Sadanand, during the period of the British Raj. It was the first news agency owned and managed by Indians. Beset by dubious business acumen ...

founded in 1927. Walchand was among the early and active supporters of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

along with other stalwarts of Indian industry and funded many of its activities. In 1930, various merchant bodies of Bombay under presidency of Walchand passed a resolution for immediate release of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure ...

but again in 1931, it was Walchand, who on behalf of Indian Merchants' Chamber demanded from Gandhi that they were not happy with

Gandhi–Irwin Pact The Gandhi–Irwin Pact was a political agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India, on 5 March 1931 before the Second Round Table Conference in London. Before this, Irwin, the Viceroy, had announced in October 1929 a ...

and demanded protection of Indian industries. Again in 1933 Walchand sent a deputation on behalf of Indian Merchants' Chamber to Gandhi to persuade him to call off Civil Disobedience Movement in interest of trade and commerce.

Piramal Piramal is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Ajay Piramal, Indian businessman *Gita Piramal, Indian writer *Swati Piramal, industrialist See also *Piramal Group, diversified business conglomerate *Piramal Glass PGP Glass ...

, pp. 281–283 He was also a signatory to

Bombay Manifesto Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

dated 26 May 1936, which opposed the socialist and Marxist ideas of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Construction business

It was in the construction business, first as a railway contractor, and then as a contractor to other departments of Government, that Phatak-Walchand private limited (partnership till 1915) made money. Phatak left the firm after it bought a foundry and undertook a mining lease, with the view that it was stretching itself into too many areas. Meanwhile, the firm found it difficult to bag larger contracts due to small size and absence of marquee names. It was merged into Tata Construction Company in 1920 to overcome these problems. Some of the major projects executed by the company include the commissioning of the tunnels through the Bhor Ghats for a railway route from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

and laying of water pipes from Tansa lake to

and also laying tracks for Barsi Light Railway. Other major projects executed by the firm include the Kalabag Bridge over

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kash ...

and a bridge across the

Irrawaddy River The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indo-Aryan languages, Indic ''revatī'', meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important comm ...

in Burma. All these projects were directed by Walchand. In 1929, he became the managing director of the company. In 1935, the company was renamed as Premier Construction to reflect the fact that Tatas had sold their stake in the firm to Walchand. Other construction company he founded was Hindustan Construction Company in 1926, which is today one of the civil and engineering construction giants of India.

Sugar machinery and confectionery

Walchand founded Walchandnagar Industries in 1908, which was started as a large-scale sugar farming firm but was later diversified into also making sugar refined spirits, sugar machinery, plastic goods, cement plant, paper and pulp plant, and water tubes. Walchand made Gulabchand its chairman to look after its day-to-day affairs. Walchandnagar Industries is today a diversified company manufacturing also boilers, turbines and also supplies strategic components to India's defence and aerospace sector. WIL was subject to sanctions by the United States following Pokhran-II for its involvement in India's nuclear and space programs. The sanctions were dropped in 2001. Another company in sugar and confectionery, the Ravalgaon Sugar Farm, was started by Walchand in 1933 and it is the Confectionery Division was started in 1942. Today, Ravalgaon Sugar is one of the market leaders in the Indian confectionery market, which is managed professionally by independent Directors.

Shipping

In 1919, after the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he along with his friends,

Narottam Morarjee Narottam Morarjee (2 April 1877 – 5 November 1929) was an Indian businessperson with major interests in shipping and textiles.Kilachand Devchand, bought a steamer, the ''SS Loyalty'' from the

Scindia The Scindia dynasty (anglicized from Shinde) is a Hindu Maratha dynasty of maratha origin that ruled the erstwhile State of Gwalior. It had the Patil-ship of Kumberkerrab in Wai. It was founded by Ranoji Scindia, who started as a personal serv ...

s of

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the ...

; with Narottam Morarjee being major financer. Walchand's underlying assumption was that the post-war years would also spell massive growth for the shipping industry just as the war years had done. However, British companies such as P&O and BI Shipping were strong in the shipping industry and most of the attempts by domestic players till then had failed. Walchand named his company '' The Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd.'' and competed with the foreign players. It was recognised as the first Swadeshi shipping company in the true sense of the term and was referred to widely in

's columns in '' Young India'' and '' Harijan'' on Swadeshi,

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict s ...

of foreign goods and Non co-operation movement. It barely managed to survive after entering into agreements on routes and fare wars with its foreign competitors. However, Walchand still supported new indigenous shipping ventures, as he believed that a strong domestic shipping industry was the need of the hour. In 1929, he became the Chairman of Scindia Steam and continued in the same position till 1950 when he resigned on grounds of ill health. By 1953, the company had captured 21% of Indian coastal traffic. Sir Lallubhai Samaldas was amongst the later directors of Scindia Steamship.

Aircraft factory

In 1939, a chance acquaintance with an American aircraft company manager inspired him to start an aircraft factory in India. Hindustan Aircraft was started in Bangalore in the

Mysore State Mysore State, colloquially Old Mysore, was a state within the Dominion of India and the later Republic of India from 1947 until 1956. The state was formed by renaming the Kingdom of Mysore, and Bangalore replaced Mysore as the state's capita ...

with the active support of its Diwan, Mirza Ismail in December 1940, where Kingdom of Mysore were partners in venture. Others, who invested their money were Dharamsey Mulraj Khatau and Tulsidas Kilachand. By April 1941, the Indian government acquired one-third of ownership and by April 1942, it nationalised the company by compensating

shareholders A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal o ...

adequately. The reasons that prompted the government for nationalising were – it was a sensitive and strategic sector; Japan's advances in the war meant that the government needed fast responses and hence, direct ownership; and it could not allow a crucial war project to remain undercapitalised or loss-making. Hindustan Aircraft was renamed as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

Insurance

To face competition in the shipping business from the British and other foreign businesses, Walchand entered allied businesses such as insurance. In 1937, he presided over the conference of Indian insurance companies held in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

Khānolakara

Shipyard

Walchand also believed that there was a strong need for a shipyard in the country and started work on it in 1940 at

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

. In the days when it was unthinkable of foundation ceremony to be done by anyone other than British officials, the truly patriotic Walchand decided to break the tradition and the foundation stone for the shipyard was laid by Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 21 June 1941, who was acting Congress President at that time. It was named Scindia Shipyard Limited and its first product, the ship ''Jalusha'' was launched soon after independence by

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

in 1948. However, the shipyard came under government control a few months later (due to the presumed importance of the project to country's security and economic growth) and was fully nationalised in 1961 and was renamed

Hindustan Shipyard Limited Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) is a shipyard located in Visakhapatnam on the east coast of India. History Founded as the ''Scindia Shipyard'', it was built by industrialist Walchand Hirachand as a part of The Scindia Steam Navigation Com ...

Car factory

As early as 1939, Walchand was interested in establishing a car factory in India. Birla family was also working in the same direction. In 1940, he signed an MOU with

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automot ...

but could not get clearances and concessions from the Mysore government unlike in the case of the aircraft company. In 1945, he established Premier Automobiles near Mumbai. Again in this venture his other partners were Dharamsey Mulraj Khatau and Tulsidas Kilachand, who were also Walchand's partners in Hindustan Aircraft. By 1948, the company started indigenisation in a small way with an in-house components department. The first car rolled out of his factory in 1949, thus beating Birla's Hindustan Motors venture in the race. In 1955, it tied up with

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

and started manufacturing engines in India. By 1956, parts of

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpa ...

were locally made.India's Industrialists: Volume 1 by Margaret Herdeck, Gita Piramal, 1985.

Public life

Walchand was one of the founder members of Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture and served as its president for eleven consecutive years from 1927–38. Walchand was also the founder of

Indian National Shipowners' Association Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, which was founded in 1929 and served as its president for 19 consecutive years from 1929–48. He also helped launch of

Indian Sugar Mills Association Indian Sugar Mills Association is premier sugar organization in India. It establish connection between Government and Sugar industry (private and public) in the country. Prime objective is to ensure that functioning of both private and public sugar ...

and the Indian Sugar Syndicate. He served as President of Indian Mechants' Chamber for years 1927–28. Also Walchand founded Deccan Sugar Factories Association and Deccan Sugar Technologists Association, whose first President was made his younger brother Lalchand and was also force behind institutions like Association of Indian Automobiles Manufacturers, the Automotive Research Association of India.

Death

In 1949, he suffered from a stroke and retired from business in 1950. He was looked after by his wife, Kasturbai passionately in his last years, who took him away to natural surroundings and religious town of

Siddhpur Siddhpur, also spelled Sidhpur, is a town, municipality and headquarter of Sidhpur taluka in Patan district, in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is a historical place located on the bank of the endorheic Saraswati River, which is probably a rem ...

in Gujarat away from

, so that he could recover his health. He died on 8 April 1953 at Siddhpur. He was survived by his wife Kastur and daughter Chatur, who was from his first marriage.

, p. 170.

Legacy

His legacy remains important. By 1947, when India became independent, the Walchand group of companies was one of the ten largest business houses in the country. The first Indian ship ''SS Loyalty'' made its maiden international voyage on 5 April 1919 by sailing from Mumbai to London. Walchand Hirachand was personally present on the ship. After India became independent, 5 April has been declared the National Maritime Day to honour that voyage. While Walchand pioneered a role for India in several industries, his dependence on excessive leverage and nationalisation seem to have taken the sheen off his contributions. The car factory, while the first in India, trailed the Birlas' Hindustan Motors in terms of market share. Walchandnagar Industries Limited, located at Walchandnagar, an industrial township near

is today a strategic defence and nuclear equipments manufacturing company. Absence of direct male heirs may also have had a role in the nature of the businesses left behind by him. For Walchand, industry was probably not just a place to make money but also to have adventure. For example, a visit to Hollywood inspired him to construct a huge studio now known as Walchand Studio in India for which he was earlier in talks with the famous

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

producer-director V. Shantaram without a tangible result. However, for years to come, he would probably be remembered as the man who dared to dream and was able to materialise most of his dreams into reality by his steadfastness and willpower. As Walchand Hirachand died without any heirs, his business is now run by descendants of his brothers like Gulabchand Hirachand, Lalchand Hirachand, Ratanchand Hirachand, who worked together till they were alive.

Philanthropy

During his lifetime, he started several charitable trusts, to look after several and also establish new educational institutions, boarding house and carry on other philanthropic works and sponsorships, including: * Walchand Institute of Technology, at

, India * Walchand College of Engineering,

Sangli Sangli () is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks o ...

, founded in 1947 * Walchand Dale Carnegie Finishing School at Bellandur, India * Walchand College of Arts and Science, Solapur, established in 1962 * Smt. Kasturbai Walchand College, Sangli, named after his wife *Seth Hirachand Nemchand Digambar Jain Boarding,

, a boarding house founded in 1941 for Jains and named after the father of Walchand Hirachand and his brothers * Walchand Public School, Sonipat

Honors and monuments

*A road in

is named after him as Walchand Hirachand Marg. *A road in

, his hometown is also named after him as Seth Walchand Hirachand Marg. *Government of India issued a postage stamp honouring him on 23 November 2004. *A hall is named after him as Walchand Hirachand Hall at Indian Merchants' Chamber house at Mumbai in his memory and honour. * Walchandnagar, an industrial township near

is named after him. * Stone Statue of Sri Walchand Hirachand on Group Captain Suranjan Das Road,

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

References

Cited sources

* *

External links

Walchandnagar Industries Limited

PM's speech at the release of a Commemorative Postage Stamp honouring Seth Walchand Hirachand

Hindustan Construction Company Limited
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirachand, Walchand 1882 births 1953 deaths Indian businesspeople in shipping Founders of Indian schools and colleges Walchand family People from Solapur Indian founders of automobile manufacturers Businesspeople in confectionery Businesspeople in construction Businesspeople in agriculture Indian businesspeople in insurance Businesspeople in the sugar industry Businesspeople from Mumbai Construction industry of India Businesspeople in aviation Indian people in rail transport Indian industrialists Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Businesspeople from Gujarat Walchand Group 19th-century Indian Jains 20th-century Indian Jains 20th-century Indian philanthropists