Abasaheb Garware
Encyclopedia
Bhalchandra Digamber Garware (fondly referred to as Abasaheb Garware) was a pioneering industrialist from Maharashtra
state in India
and Founder Chairman of the Garware Group of Industries.
in Satara district
of Maharashtra
on December 21, 1903. He faced poverty
since his father wasted away all the family wealth and incurred large amount of debt
s. Due to the financial position at home he was forced to leave education
after passing the then 6th Standard High School exam. Then he migrated to England
from Mumbai
in 1920 at the age of just 17 years.
he started an automobile
business for his livelihood which made some decent earnings for him. During this time since he was in automobile business he got an idea of the potential for a second-hand
car market. He then started working as an agent for selling second-hand cars. Eventually with his entrepreneurship
and hard work he established his “Deccan Motor Agency” in Girgaon
, a suburb of Mumbai (then Bombay) and earned repute as a reliable dealer in cars. He also got into the business of selling spares, accessories, tyres etc.
In 1933 Abasaheb decided to go to England
since second-hand cars were cheap in England then. In London
he not only dealt with second hand cars but he also purchased firms from businessmen taking advantage of recession. This move brought him good profits. His move of buying cars in England helped him to get a good grip on the second-hand car business.
Industry. He identified Plastic Industry as an upcoming industry and hence he entered it. He started manufacturing Plastic buttons for the Navy during the 2nd World War
.
Eventually he got into a number of ventures related to Plastic industry like Nylon
Yarn, Nylon Bristles, fishing net
s, Polyester
Films, Synthetic Rope
s, Plastic injection molding
and blow molding
, etc. He had a good success due to his keenness of quality.
, education etc. He also made numerous donations for school
s and college
s, laboratories
, libraries
, gymnasia, etc. Annual Scholarships and awards were also instituted by him to promote academic excellence among students.
He founded about seventy five Trusts for pursuing various charitable objectives.
His contributions in the field of education has also been invaluable. Due to his efforts a number of Educational Institutions were setup such as the University of Bombay’s Garware Institute of Career Education and Development and Smt. Mathubai Garware College for women at Sangli
. His charitable donations to the Maharashtra Education Society, Pune led to that organization renaming its colleges and a school as the Abasaheb Garware College of Arts and Science,the Abasaheb Garware college of Commerce and Smt. Vimlabai Garware High school respectively.
in 1959. He was also chosen to lead institutions like the State Bank of India
, State Financial Corporation and many delegations to foreign countries. The Government of India bestowed on him the Padma Bhushan
award in 1971. He was also awarded the Udyog Ratna by the Institute of Economic Studies
in 1989. He received an honorary D. Litt. Degree from the University of Pune
in 1989. The Department of Posts
of India honored Abasaheb Garware with a commemorative postage stamp
.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
state in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Founder Chairman of the Garware Group of Industries.
Birth and childhood
Abasaheb Garware was born in TasgaonTasgaon
Tasgaon is a city and a municipal council in Sangli district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.-Geography:Tasgaon is located at . It has an average elevation of 560 metres .mbngh fg cv. Tasgaon receives average rainfall of 450 mm from SW monsoon...
in Satara district
Satara district
Satara District is a district of Maharashtra state in western India with an area of 10,480 km² and a population of 2,808,994 of which 14.17% were urban . Satara is the capital of the district and other major towns include Wai, Karad, Koregaon, Koyananagar, Rahimatpur, Phaltan, Mahabaleshwar...
of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
on December 21, 1903. He faced poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
since his father wasted away all the family wealth and incurred large amount of debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
s. Due to the financial position at home he was forced to leave education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
after passing the then 6th Standard High School exam. Then he migrated to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
in 1920 at the age of just 17 years.
Struggle and Rise in second-hand car market
After initial struggle in MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
he started an automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
business for his livelihood which made some decent earnings for him. During this time since he was in automobile business he got an idea of the potential for a second-hand
Second-Hand
Second-Hand was a 2005 Romanian film directed by Dan Piţa.-Plot summary:The film's plot surrounds the romantic involvement of two contrasting characters: Petre , a Mafioso, and Andreea , a young violin player. The pair meet and fall in love...
car market. He then started working as an agent for selling second-hand cars. Eventually with his entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...
and hard work he established his “Deccan Motor Agency” in Girgaon
Girgaon
Girgaon, also spelt Girgaum, is an area in southern Mumbai in Maharashtra, India.Girgaon gets its name from being located at the foot of Malabar Hill in South Mumbai. The culture in Girgaon is diverse and varied. Like most areas of cosmopolitan Mumbai, residents span diverse languages, religions,...
, a suburb of Mumbai (then Bombay) and earned repute as a reliable dealer in cars. He also got into the business of selling spares, accessories, tyres etc.
In 1933 Abasaheb decided to go to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
since second-hand cars were cheap in England then. In London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
he not only dealt with second hand cars but he also purchased firms from businessmen taking advantage of recession. This move brought him good profits. His move of buying cars in England helped him to get a good grip on the second-hand car business.
Entry into Plastic Industry
He showed his business acumen once again when he entered the PlasticPlastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
Industry. He identified Plastic Industry as an upcoming industry and hence he entered it. He started manufacturing Plastic buttons for the Navy during the 2nd World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Eventually he got into a number of ventures related to Plastic industry like Nylon
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...
Yarn, Nylon Bristles, fishing net
Fishing net
A fishing net or fishnet is a net that is used for fishing. Fishing nets are meshes usually formed by knotting a relatively thin thread. Modern nets are usually made of artificial polyamides like nylon, although nets of organic polyamides such as wool or silk thread were common until recently and...
s, Polyester
Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
Films, Synthetic Rope
Rope
A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...
s, Plastic injection molding
Injection molding
Injection molding is a manufacturing process for producing parts from both thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic materials. Material is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into a mold cavity where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the cavity...
and blow molding
Blow molding
Blow molding is a manufacturing process by which hollow plastic parts are formed. In general, there are three main types of blow molding: extrusion blow molding, injection blow molding, and stretch blow molding. The blow molding process begins with melting down the plastic and forming it into a...
, etc. He had a good success due to his keenness of quality.
Contributions to social cause
Abasaheb was an entrepreneur who put into practice Gandhiji’s precepts of trusteeship for the good of workers. He attributed his success to his team. He decided to pay back his earnings to Society to distribute his profit towards social causes like healthHealth
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, education etc. He also made numerous donations for school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s and college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
s, laboratories
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
, libraries
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, gymnasia, etc. Annual Scholarships and awards were also instituted by him to promote academic excellence among students.
He founded about seventy five Trusts for pursuing various charitable objectives.
His contributions in the field of education has also been invaluable. Due to his efforts a number of Educational Institutions were setup such as the University of Bombay’s Garware Institute of Career Education and Development and Smt. Mathubai Garware College for women at Sangli
Sangli
Sangli is a city in the state of Maharashtra of India. Sangli is known as the Turmeric city for its vast production of Turmeric. Sangli is situated on the banks of river Krishna and is the largest market place for Turmeric in Asia and houses many sugar factories, which it is also noted for...
. His charitable donations to the Maharashtra Education Society, Pune led to that organization renaming its colleges and a school as the Abasaheb Garware College of Arts and Science,the Abasaheb Garware college of Commerce and Smt. Vimlabai Garware High school respectively.
Other accomplishments
He was appointed as Sheriff of MumbaiSheriff of Mumbai
The Sheriff of Mumbai is an apolitical titular position of authority bestowed for one year on a prominent citizen of Mumbai. The current Sheriff of Mumbai is Indu Shahani, principal of H. R...
in 1959. He was also chosen to lead institutions like the State Bank of India
State Bank of India
The State Bank of India is the largest Indian banking and financial services company with its headquarters in Mumbai, India. It is state-owned. The bank traces its ancestry to British India, through the Imperial Bank of India, to the founding in 1806 of the Bank of Calcutta, making it the oldest...
, State Financial Corporation and many delegations to foreign countries. The Government of India bestowed on him the Padma Bhushan
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
award in 1971. He was also awarded the Udyog Ratna by the Institute of Economic Studies
Institute of Economic Studies
The Institute of Economic Studies is a Paris based non-profit organization created in 1989. IES faculty include Tibor Machan, Douglass Rasmussen, Tom G. Palmer, Joseph Pini, Carlo Lottieri, Stephen Davies, Colin Ganley, Boudewijn Bouckaert, Randy Barnett, and Pierre Garello.*...
in 1989. He received an honorary D. Litt. Degree from the University of Pune
University of Pune
The University of Pune , is a university located in northwestern Pune, India. It was founded in 1949. Spread over a campus, the university is home to 46 academic departments...
in 1989. The Department of Posts
Indian Postal Service
The Department of Posts functioning under the brand name India Post , is a government operated postal system in India; it is generally referred to within India as "the post office"....
of India honored Abasaheb Garware with a commemorative postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
.