The Mehta Group of Companies, commonly referred to as the Mehta Group, is an Indian conglomerate based in Mumbai and headquartered in Gandhinagar, with subsidiaries in the United States, Canada, Kenya and Uganda. The group employs in excess of 15,000 people worldwide, and has an asset base in excess of US$350 million, as of April 2010. The group's businesses include investments in sugar, cement, packaging, floriculture, engineering, electrical cable, consulting, management, insurance, International Trade and International Finance.[2]
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | 1900 |
| Founder | Nanji Kalidas Mehta |
| Headquarters | Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India |
Key people | Jay Mehta (chairman)[1] |
| Products | Manufacturing, Agriculture, Finance, Sugar, Horticulture, Cement, Plastics, Alcohol, Insurance, Consulting, Industrial Machinery |
| Total assets | US$400+ million (2014) |
Number of employees | 15,000+ (2009) |
| Website | mehtagroup.com |
History
editThe group, founded by Nanji Kalidas Mehta (1887–1969), who was born in India in the late 19th century. In 1900, at the age of 13 years, he migrated to Uganda and started a series of businesses that included a tea plantation, a cotton ginnery, a sugarcane plantation and a sugar factory.
During the 1930s, having established himself in Uganda, Mehta began operations in India. He set up a textile mill and ginning factory in Porbandar, Gujarat, and a trading company in Bombay. Later, a cement plant (Saurashtra Cement Limited) was established in 1956.
In 1972, Idi Amin, then leader of Uganda, expelled all Asians from the country; all of the group's Ugandan possession were surrendered, many to the government-controlled Uganda Development Corporation.[3] The group concentrated on their non-African businesses; setting up a consultancy in India and a plastics plant in Canada becoming a truly International conglomerate during the 1970s. In 1979, Amin was removed from power and the group was invited back into Uganda to repossess their assets.
During the 1980s the Agrima Consultancy wing of the group expanded to Ethiopia, Cameroon, Sudan, Burundi, Nigeria, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The group rehabilitated all their Ugandan businesses during this period. A second cement plant was started in India; the Gujarat Sidhee Cement Limited.
During the 1990s the group entered the financial area by establishing Transafrica Assurance Company Limited. During this period, the cement factories in India were expanded and modernized.[4]
Subsidiary companies
editThe companies of the Mehta Group include, but are not limited to the following:[5]
- India
- Saurashtra Cement Limited – Ranavav, Gujarat, India
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement Limited – Sidheegram, Gujarat, India
- Agrima Consultants International Limited – Mumbai, India
- Mehta Private Limited – Mumbai, India
- Kolkata Knight Riders, India
- Global Cups & Consumables Private Limited – Kandla Port, Gujarat, India.
- Uganda
- Transafrica Assurance Company Limited – Kampala, Uganda
- Transafrica Commerce Limited – Kampala, Uganda
- Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited (SCOUL) – Lugazi, Uganda[6]
- Lugazi Power Station – Lugazi, Uganda
- Ugma Engineering Corporation Limited – Lugazi, Uganda
- Cable Corporation Limited – Lugazi, Uganda
- Uganda Hortech Limited – Lugazi, Uganda
- Kenya
- Agro Chemical and Food Company Limited – Muhoroni, Kenya
- The Mehta Group Limited – Nairobi, Kenya
- Glenn Investments Limited Nairobi, Kenya
- USA
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Sabano, Jessica (28 June 2018). "NEMA tours SCOUL over stench complaint". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ^ Economic Times, Bureau (23 April 2010). "In A Tight Spot, Will Jay Mehta Wriggle Through?". The Economic Times (New Delhi). Archived from the original on 8 August 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ Jørgensen, Jan Jelmert (1981). Uganda: A Modern History. Taylor & Francis. pp. 288–290. ISBN 978-0-85664-643-0. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
- ^ Mehta, Group (2010). "History of The Mehta Group of Companies". MehtaGroup.Com. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ Mehta, Group (2010). "The Businesses of The Mehta Group". MehtaGroup.Com. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ Habati, Mubatsi Asinja (27 August 2011). "Mabira: No Storm In Mehta's Tea Cup". The Independent (Uganda). Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.