Murugappa Group

Coordinates: 13°05′21″N 80°17′25″E / 13.08909°N 80.29025°E / 13.08909; 80.29025

Murugappa Group

Industry	Conglomerate
Founded	1900
Headquarters	Chennai
Key people	A. Vellayan (Executive Chairman)
Products	Engineering, abrasives, financial services, general insurance, cycles, sugar, farm Inputs, fertilizers, plantations, bio-products and nutraceuticals
Revenue	USD 3.8 billion (2011)
Employees	32,000 (2011)
Website	www.murugappa.com

The Murugappa Group is conglomerate company headquartered in Chennai, India, with a valuation of Rs. 17,051 crores (USD 3.8 billion as on March 31, 2011) . It is a market leader in diverse areas of business including Engineering, Abrasives, Finance, General insurance, Bicycles, Sugar, Farm Inputs, Fertilizers, Plantations, Bio-products and Nutraceuticals. Its 29 businesses have manufacturing facilities spread across 13 states in India, with over 32,000 employees. The Group has forged strong joint venture alliances with international companies like Mitsui Sumitomo, Foskor, Cargill and Groupe Chimique Tunisien to consolidate its status as one of the fastest growing diversified business houses in India.^{[citation needed]}

History

The business has its origins in 1900, when Dewan Bahadur A M Murugappa Chettiar established a money-lending and banking business in Burma (now Myanmar), which then spread to Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam. In the following 100 years, it has withstood enormous vicissitudes, including strategically moving its assets back to India and restarting from scratch in the '30s, before the Japanese conquest of Burma in World War II.

Starting with a sandpaper plant, the Group forayed into making steel safes, and then into manufacturing. It set up an insurance company, and bought a rubber plantation; making a small but significant beginning. Today, it is one of the country's biggest industrial houses. Group turnover crossed the $1 billion mark in 2003-04, with a growth of 25 per cent over Rs 4,206 crore in 2002-03, and a 40 per cent jump in profit before tax over the previous year. Consolidated Group turnover for 2004-05 crossed $1.44 billion, a growth of 20 per cent over the previous year. In 2005-06, combined turnover increased by 17 per cent to $1630 million (Rs 7,340 crore) and net profit (PBT) by 45 per cent to $177 million (Rs 800 crore). The Group ended the year 2006-07 with a turnover of Rs 8,446 crore, and profit before tax of Rs 649 crore. The year 2007-08 saw a turnover of $2.4 billion (Rs 9,852 crore). Group achieved a turnover of Rs. 13,617 crore during 2009-10. They intend to achieve a total turnover of $7.2 Billion by 2013-14.^{[citation needed]}

Brands and international connections

Today the Murugappa Group is firmly established in India, and is poised for international growth.^{[citation needed]} The group is a market leader in India across a spectrum of products like fertilizers, abrasives, automotive chains, car door frames and steel tubes. Neemazal, a neem-based organic pesticide, is the market leader in bio-pesticides. Some of the country's best-known brands like BSA and Hercules in bicycles, Parrys Spirulina and Parrys Beta Carotene in nutraceuticals, Ballmaster and Ajax in abrasives, Gromor and Paramfos in fertilizers, and many more come from the Murugappa Group. Its companies have tie-ups with Wendt GmbH of Germany, Morgan Crucible Company PLC of the UK, the China Engineering and Exploration Bureau (CEEB), Cerdak Pty Ltd of South Africa, Mitsui Tsumitomo Insurance Company Ltd of Japan, Borg Warner Morsetec of USA, Foskor Ltd of South Africa, Groupe Chimique Tunisien of Tunisia, and Cargill International SA of Geneva.

Executive succession

The Murugappa Group transitioned to a professionally managed corporate house, engaging Arthur D. Little for restructuring and succession plans, following the death of M V Arunachalam (1929-96), which brought the leadership to the older A M M Arunachalam, who died in 1999.

It was in 1999 that M V Subbiah decided to step down, bring in an external chairman for the Group, and let the family take advisory positions. The Murugappa Corporate Board was formed and N S Raghavan, a professional, was appointed as Chairman. On his retirement in 2001, P S Pai took over as Executive Chairman. During Pai's tenure the Group went through a period of learning and growth. On completion of his tenure, M A Alagappan, took over as Executive Chairman in October 2006 and A Vellayan as its Vice-Chairman and Director-Strategy. A Vellayan succeeded M A Alagappan as the Executive Chairman and M M Murugappan the Vice Chairman on November 1, 2009.

Community involvement

The Group has been involved in corporate contribution to the welfare of the community, from the time they began their journey in 1924. The AMM Trust was formed to set up and run hospitals and schools in Chennai and Pallathur, the native place of the founders. The Group claims to have been at the forefront of eco-conservation, public health, and education in the communities where its companies operate, since 1957. It runs four schools, a polytechnic college, four hospitals, and research and development center for rural development, the Sri AM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre (MCRC), which has been designing simple, cost-effective technologies for local artisans since 1977.^{[citation needed]}

Group Company

Ambadi Estates Private Limited

New Ambadi Estates Private Limited

Tube Investments of India Limited

Cholamandalam Investments & Finance Company Limited

EID Parry India Limited

Coromandel International Limited

Parry Agro

Coromandel Engineering Limited

Carborundum Universal Limited (CUMI)

Laserwords Private Limited

Net Access (India) Limited

Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited

Cholamandalam MS Risk Services Company Limited

External links

• Homepage