Walchand Hirachand

Walchand Hirachand Doshi [1] (23 November 1882 – 8 April 1953) was an Indian industrialist and the founder of the Walchand group. He established India's first modern shipyard, first aircraft factory and first car factory; he also established construction companies, sugarcane plantations, sugar factories, confectioneries, engineering companies and many other businesses.[2][3]

Early life

Walchand Hirachand was born in Solapur, (now in Maharashtra) to Seth Hirachand Nemchand Doshi and his first wife Raju. Walchand born into a Digambar Jain family from Wankaner Gujarat, who had settled in Solapur in the erstwhile Bombay Presidency.[4][5]

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, 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 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.[2]

Walchand along with Annie Besant and M. R. Jayakar together were the first sponsors of the pioneering national news agency, the Free Press of India founded in 1927. Walchand was among the early and active supporters of Indian National Congress along with other stalwarts of Indian industry and funded many of its activities.[7] In 1930, various merchant bodies of Bombay under the presidency of Walchand passed a resolution for the immediate release of Mahatma Gandhi; but again, in 1931, it was Walchand, who on behalf of the Indian Merchants' Chamber demanded from Gandhi that they were not happy with the Gandhi–Irwin Pact and demanded the protection of Indian industries. Again, in 1933, Walchand sent a deputation on behalf of the Indian Merchants' Chamber to Gandhi to persuade him to call off the Civil Disobedience Movement in the interest of trade and commerce.[8][9] He was also a signatory to the Bombay Manifesto dated 26 May 1936, which opposed the socialist and Marxist ideas of Jawaharlal Nehru.[10][11]

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 its small size and the 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 to Pune and laying of water pipes from Tansa Lake to Mumbai and also the laying of tracks for the Barsi Light Railway. Other major projects executed by the firm include the Kalabag Bridge over Indus and a bridge across the Irrawaddy River 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 Premier Construction to reflect the fact that the Tatas had sold their stake in the firm to Walchand. Another construction company he founded was Hindustan Construction Company in 1926, which is today one of the civil and engineering construction giants of India.[3]

birth date	November 23, 1882
birth place	Solapur, Bombay Presidency, British India
death date	April 8, 1953
death place	Siddhpur, Bombay State, India
occupation	Chairman, Walchand group
relations	Walchand family

Early life

Education

Marriage

Early business

Career

Construction business

Sugar machinery and confectionery

Public life

Death

Legacy

Philanthropy

Honours and monuments

Cited sources

External links

References

Shipping

Aircraft factory

Shipyard

Car factory

Pipelines

Insurance