Doyen of Indian Industry R.P. Goenka Passes Away

Kolkata : RPG Group founder Rama Prasad Goenka, a doyen of Indian industry and business titan of eastern India, died Sunday morning at his South Kolkata home after a long battle with cancer.

Goenka, 83, is survived by wife Sushila and two sons Harsh and Sanjiv - both leading industrialists.

While Harsh is now RPG Enterprises chairman, his younger brother Sanjiv is the chairman of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, after the tycoon amicably divided his entire business between them about three years ago.

Goenka was chairman emeritus of both the groups, which have a combined turnover of around 30,000 crore.

Goenka's undivided business empire encompassed - CESC, Noida Power Co. Ltd., RPG Raychem, Spencer, CEAT Tyers, Saregama India (previously Gramophone Co of India), KEC International, Phillips Carbon Black, Fujitsu ICIM (now Zensar Technologies), Harrisons Malayalam, Firstsource Solutions Ltd. and RPG Life Sciences.

The former Rajya Sabha member headed a bouquet of companies spanning a wide range and across diverse sectors like power generation, transmission and distribution, electricity transmission engineering, tyres, carbon black, retail, entertainment, plantations and information technology.

Regarded as "takeover king", Goenka in 1979 established the RPG Enterprises with four companies - Phillips Carbon Black, Asian Cables, Agarpara Jute and Murphy India - which he inherited when the family assets were divided.

The four constituent units then had an annual turnover of around 105 crore, but by 1990 - even before the opening up of the country's economy - Goenka was presiding over one of the leading business conglomerates in India, as he mostly acquired companies once owned by British merchants.

In 2010, when Goenka divided his business empire among his two sons, the total turnover had touched 18,000 crore, with its imprint in several countries of Asia, Europe, North and South America and Africa.

In the 1980s, he made a series of acquisitions, the first being tyre company Ceat in 1981.

The group then went on to acquire Searle India, now RPG Life Sciences (1983), Gramophone Company, now Saregama India (1985), Harrisons Malayalam (1988), and finally CESC and Spencer (1989).

Born March 1, 1930, into one of the oldest business families established in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1820 by his ancestor Ramdutt Goenka, who moved from Dundlod in Rajasthan to do business with the English East India Co, RP as he was popularly called received his training from his grandfather Sir Badridas Goenka who was chairman of Imperial Bank of India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The industrialist, who had been close to then prime minister Indira Gandhi, was a Rajya Sabha member between 2000-06.

Goenka, a past president of the FICCI, received from the Emperor of Japan "the Order Of the Sacred Treasure Gold and Silver Star".

A pall of gloom descended on the city at the news of Goenka's death.

Politicians, industrialists and artists visited his residence to pay their last respects.

Goenka was later cremated at Keoratala burning ghat, with his sons performing the last rites.

India Inc. paid rich tributes to Goenka.

Birla family patriarch Basant Kumar Birla said: "India has lost one of its prominent sons."

"One of the tallest business leaders has passed away from our midst and India has lost one of the doyens of business," said S. Gopalakrishnan, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

"Shri Goenka through his relentless work helped strengthen the industry's recognition in the global economy," said FICCI president Naina Lal Kidwai.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described him as "one of Bengal's true champions of industry".