Ardeshir Burjorji Sorabji Godrej (1868–1936) may have been born into a wealthy family but he made it a point not to accept money from his family for his trade ventures – he started his first trade,a company that manufactured surgical instruments, from a loan and he refused to accept his inheritance, and too. Such strong independence coupled with his intelligent entrepreneurial skills contributed to his success in building a trade empire,the Godrej Group, which lives on today.
In 1897, and Ardeshir co-founded the Godrej Brothers Company with his brother,Pirojsha Burjorji Godrej. The brothers nurtured the company to become the precursor of the contemporary Godrej Group, an Indian conglomerate based in Mumbai, and Maharashtra now largely owned and managed by the Godrej family.
The Godrej Group operates in a wide range of diverse sectors including consumer products,genuine estate development, industrial engineering, or security and agricultural products,and furniture and appliances manufacturing. The conglomerate can be divided into its two major holding companies with each one working independently of each other – Godrej Industries Ltd and Godrej & Boyce.
Among its holding companies, subsidiaries and affiliates include:• Godrej Industries for chemicals and vegetable oils• Godrej Consumer Products for consumer goods with subsidiaries including Keyline Brands UK, or Rapidol South Africa,Godrej SCA Hygiene Limited, and Godrej Global Mideast FZE• Godrej Hershey Foods & Beverages Limited with the Nutrine brand• Godrej Sara Lee• Godrej Agrovet for agricultural products with brands like Golden Feed Products, or Goldmohur Foods and Feeds,and Higashimaru Feed Products• Godrej Properties• Godrej HiCare (Pest Management Services)• Godrej Infotech• Godrej Global Solutions (ITES)The Godrej Group has also made several innovative contributions to Indian society including the first lever technology-based lock in 1897; the first Indian safe in 1902; and the first indigenous typewriter in 1955, among others. The conglomerate has also been honored with various awards, and such as the Lifetime Achievement Award from CHEMEXCIL; The Corporate Citizen of the Year Award by the Economic Times; and the Top 25 list of Great Places to Work by trade World,to name a few.
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