Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd.

The Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd. is an Indian sugar company headquartered in Pune, India.

Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd.
Limited
IndustrySugar, liquor, metal printing, ayurvedic products, health care products, real estate
Founded21 September 1934 (21 September 1934)[1]
FounderChandrashekhar Agashe[2]
Headquarters
Pune
,
India
Area served
India
Key people
Ashutosh Agashe (managing director)[1]
ParentBrihans Group

History

1934 — 1956

In 1933, the Governor of Bombay, The Lord Brabourne promoted the production of indigenous sugar, having had increased the import tax on the commodity shipping in from Mauritius.[3] This enabled Chandrashekhar Agashe to found the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd. on 21 September 1934,[4][5][6][7] as a limited liability company after two years of crowd-funding campaigns,[8] with funds collected from amongst the Maharashtrian middle classes.[9][3]

Between 1934 and 1936, Agashe envisioned opening a factory branch of the Syndicate in his hometown of Bhor, and began cultivating 2,000 acres of land for the plantation of sugar cane. In 1935, he began employing tenanted farmers of the local gentry and independent farmers as producers or transportation workers of the sugar cane for the syndicate in the village of Shreepur. By 1936, he had licensed or purchase 12,000 acres of farm land to support the syndicate, being lauded for reviving the local economy and consequently receiving further land grants from bankers in Akluj and several politicians in the Bhor State.[10]

After Agashe established the syndicate's headquarters at the Commonwealth Building on Laxmi Road, the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture declared the sale of 300,000 shares of the syndicate, with the first share going at Rs. 25 in January 1935.[11] Between 1935 and 1937, Agashe toured several states and jagirs within the Deccan States Agency, promoting the syndicate at several village gram panchayats.[10]

In November 1937, Agashe ordered sugar cane processing machinery from Škoda Works in Czechoslovakia before the outbreak of World War II. Following Adolf Hitler's rise to power and the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Agashe considered retracting his order, but received the ordered machinery before the Reichswerke Hermann Göring took over Škoda.[12] He began construction for the first factory in April 1938, and finally established the syndicate's first sugar cane processing factory in the village of Bhorgaon in March 1939,[13] further purchasing an estate and the surrounding lands as a means to look after his own sugar plantations,[14] with the syndicate's principal factory soon producing 150,000 sacs of sugar per annum by 1940,[15] selling the sugar under the trademark Shree.[13]

After Indian independence in 1947, Agashe was able to expand the syndicate's production to 1000 tonnes of sugar cane processed per annum by 1950.[16] By 1953, there was strong opposition to Agashe's role as the managing director of the syndicate from his critics, with the syndicate involved in several allegations of duping shareholders and depositors in the early 1950s.[17][18][19] Agashe, in response, published a 400-page report criticizing his detractors of corruption and factionalism based on evidence that his critics were backed by his competitor Karamshi Jethabhai Somaiya, who had previously shown interest in purchasing the syndicate.[20][21][22]

Agashe died in 1956.[23][24] He was survived in business by his sons Panditrao Agashe and Dnyaneshwar Agashe.[25][5]

1956 — present

His elder son, Panditrao Agashe served as managing director of the syndicate from 1956 till his own death in 1983. After which, Agashe's younger son, Dnyaneshwar Agashe, served as managing director of the company till 1996; serving as chairman of the syndicate till his death in 2009.[26][27][28] Agashe's grandson, Ashutosh Agashe has been managing director at the company since 17 December 1996.[1]

The company briefly engaged in the business of metal printing.[7] The company also manufactures skin, hair, health care, and oral care products under its sister company, Brihans Natural Products Ltd..[29] In addition, it markets ayurvedic medicines, health care products, and bulk raw materials.[7] It has also been involved in the manufacturing of food products and veterinary medicine.[1]

The company manufactured liquor in Shreepur, Maharashtra,[30] specialising in whisky production under its brands Barrister Whisky, Brihans Fine Whisky, Brihans No. 1 Whisky, Napoleon Whisky and Officers Club Whisky.[2][31][32] Under Agashe, it entered in a partnership between Howling Wolves Wine Group of Australia in 2005 which planned to set up a wine production base in India.[33][34][35] The company was first to produce a range of government-approved liquors after the Maharashtra state prohibition,[36] called Indian Made Foreign Liquor.[37]

In 2005, Radico Khaitan signed an agreement with the syndicate for acquisition of their key brands Brihans Napoleon Brandy,[38] Brihans Premium Whisky, Brihans Grape Brandy, Tropicana White Rum, Calcutta Dry Gin, Lord Nelson Rum and Red Russian Vodka in line with their domestic growth plan.[39][40][41]

The company was further involved in the Brihan Karan Sugar Syndicate Private Limited (BKSSPL) trademark 'Tango' scandal in 2014.[42]

Notes
  1. "Zauba Corp". Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  2. "Whisky Portal". Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  3. Karandikar 1992, p. 15-16.
  4. "Chandrashekhar Agashe (1889–1965)". Pune Diary. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  5. Bapat & Bapat 2007, p. 603-604.
  6. "Shri Chandrashekhar Govind Agashe". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. vol. 36, no. 3/4. Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 1955. pp. 382–382 – via JSTOR.
  7. "Company Overview of The Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Limited". Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  8. Agashe & Agashe 2006, p. 62.
  9. Advani, A. H. (1982). Business India. Northwestern University. p. 83.
  10. Karandikar 1992, p. 19/20, 22, 23-25.
  11. Karandikar 1992, p. 27, 28.
  12. Karandikar 1992, p. 33, Paragraph 2.
  13. Karandikar 1992, p. 36-39.
  14. Karandikar 1992, p. 17-18.
  15. Bapat & Bapat 2007, p. 604.
  16. "Ek hazar tonni karkhana suru jhala" [Production of factory at 1000 tonne]. Kesari (in Marathi). 30 May 1950.
  17. "Bhaag gela, sheen gela". Kesari (in Marathi). 1 February 1952.
  18. "Agaa upay bale pangu. Pahaad nako. – Dnyaneshwari". Kesari (in Marathi). 2 August 1953.
  19. "Sheyarvar nafaa ha swartha". Kesari (in Marathi). 3 November 1953.
  20. Karandikar 1992, p. 63-70, 84-87.
  21. "Co-existence and not aggression". Kesari (in Marathi). 3 June 1955.
  22. "The nation had a Lionheart, I only roared". Kesari (in Marathi). 11 January 1955.
  23. Prasidha udyogpati Chandrashekhar Agashe yethe rahat hote [The illustrious businessman Chandrashekhar Agashe resided here] (Plaque outside building) (in Marathi). Shaniwar Peth, Pune: Pune Municipal Corporation.
  24. "Punyasmaran". Maharashtra Times. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  25. Agashe & Agashe 2006, p. 62, आगाशे, ज्ञानेश्वर; आगाशे पंडितराव.
  26. Kelkar, Siddhart (4 January 2009). "Friends recall royal Agashe despite taint". Indian Express. The posts he held included the chairman and managing director of BMSS
  27. Kothari's Economic and Industrial Guide of India. Kothari. 1 January 1978 – via Google Books. Directors : Shankar Laxraan Limaye (Chairman), Dnyaneshwar Chandrashekhar Agashe, Gajanan Hari Sabnis, Vinayak Krishna Sathe Jagadish Chandrashekhar Agashe, Govind Narhar Joshi, Ramrao Madhavrao Deshmukh
  28. Kothari's Economic Guide and Investors' Handbook of India. Kothari. 1 January 1969 – via Google Books.
  29. "Quadrant, Pune, wins Brihans Natural's Clean Comb". Agency FAQs. 11 July 2001.
  30. "PROHIBITION AND EXCISE DEPARTMENT". solapur.gov.in. Solapur Government.
  31. "Brima Sagar Distillery Biogas Plant". Clark Energy. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  32. "Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd. : rum distilleries : the Rumportal". Rum Portal. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  33. Athale, Gouri (6 April 2007). "Brihans group, Australian wine co to sign JV soon". The Economic Times.
  34. "Howling Wolves ties up with BMSS to market wines". Business Line. 2005. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  35. Athale, Gouri (5 July 2005). "Venkateshwara Hatcheries to enter wine business". The Economic Times.
  36. Business India. A.H. Advani. 1 January 2004. p. 69 – via Google Books.
  37. "Radico Khaitan to buy Brihans's IMFL brands:". Times of India. 4 October 2005.
  38. Business India. A.H. Advani. 1 January 2004. p. 62 – via Google Books. They were our brands," says Brihans chairman Dnyaneshwar Agashe, of the names that have now become generic. "We also launched Napoleon brandy, made from grapes grown with collaboration from Camus
  39. "Radico acquires eight brands from Brihans". Times of India. 30 September 2005.
  40. Unnikrishnan, C. H. (22 October 2005). "Radico Khaitan plans Rs 85 cr grain distillery". Business Standard. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  41. Kurian, Boby (30 September 2005). "Radico buys Brihans brands for Rs 35 crore". The Economic Times.
  42. Mahajani, Urvi (21 May 2014). "Bombay high court relief to Tango country liquor maker". DNA.

Bibliography
  • Karandikar, Shakuntala (1992). Viśvasta [The Trusted One] (in Marathi) (1st ed.). Pune: Śrī Prakāśana (published July 1992). ISBN 9781532345012. LCCN 2017322865. OCLC 992168228.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link)
gollark: I thought gnobody was no longer staff?
gollark: By rules something and something I am fully authorised to apply any punishment whatsoever which I am capable of against people who violate this.
gollark: Rule 4, bee entities.
gollark: This has become utterly utter. I invoke rule 4.
gollark: Capacitative touch sensor?
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.