16 companies that have survived over 100 years in India

From India’s struggle for independence to economic liberalisation and stock market scams, 16 companies have stood the test of time.

Business Today magazine came up with a list of companies that have not only survived for over 100 years but are still going strong today.

Let’s take a look at them.

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Jessop & Company

Started in: 1788

Jessop & Company is a part of Ruia Group, which is based in Kolkata. Ruia Group also owns companies such as Dunlop India and Falcon Tyres.

According to the company website, Jessop & Company was the first engineering company of the country.

“Jessop bears a 224-year old heritage in the heavy engineering and infrastructure sector”, states the website.

Its credentials run from manufacturing India's first iron bridge in the 19th century to the first road roller, its first iron steamer, first cantilever Bridge (the HowrahBridge) to first EMU Coach and many more.

This was the first acquisition of the Ruia Group and the company came into the Group's fold through the Indian government's disinvestment programme.

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Bennett, Coleman & Co

Started in: 1838

Bennett, Coleman and Co. (also referred as The Times Group) is the largest mass media company in India.

The company remains a family-owned business as the descendants of Sahu Jain family controls majority stake in Times Group.

The Times Group has over 11,000 employees and revenue exceeding $1.5 billion, according to Wikipedia.

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Bombay Dyeing

Started in: 1879

The group began with marine construction, building the first ship for the British Navy outside England. It has taken up diverse ventures in its 250-year-old history. But it is in textiles, with Bombay Dyeing, established in 1879 by Nowrosjee Wadia, that the Wadia Group has left an indelible mark, according to Business Today magazine.

The company is now the flagship firm  of the Wadia Group, engaged mainly into the business of Textiles.

Bombay Dyeing is one of India's largest producers of textiles.

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Dabur

Started in: 1884

Dabur India Ltd is one of India’s leading FMCG Companies with Revenues of over Rs 7,073 crore & Market Capitalisation of $5 Billion.

Dabur India is also a world leader in Ayurveda with a portfolio of over 250 Herbal/Ayurvedic products.

Dabur's FMCG portfolio includes five flagship brands - Dabur as the master brand for natural healthcare products, Vatika for premium personal care, Hajmola for digestives, Real for fruit juices and beverages and Fem for fairness bleaches and skin care products.

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Kirloskar Brothers

Started in:1888

Kirloskar Brothers Limited (KBL) is a pump manufacturing company with expertise in engineering and manufacture of systems for fluid management.

Established in 1888 and incorporated in 1920, KBL is the flagship company of the $2.1 billion Kirloskar Group.

The market leader in fluid management, KBL provides complete fluid management solutions for large infrastructure projects in the areas of water supply, power plants, irrigation, oil & gas and marine & defence.

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DCM

Started in: 1889

Founded by Lala Sri Ram, DCM started its journey with the incorporation of a public limited Company on March 26, 1889 in the name and style of Delhi Cloth & General Mills Co.

Over the years, the DCM Group became one of India's largest conglomerates.

It expanded and diversified its activities into a number of manufacturing activities such as textiles, sugar, chemicals, rayon, tyre Cord, fertilizers, Information Technology and Engineering Products.

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Britannia

Started in: 1892

The food -products company is based in Kolkata. It sells its Britannia and Tiger brands of biscuit and holds an estimated 38 per cent market share. It is involved in manufacture and sale of biscuits, bread, rusk, cakes and dairy products.

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Punjab National Bank

Started in: 1894

Punjab National Bank was registered on 19 May 1894 with its office in Anarkali Bazaar, Lahore.

The founding board was drawn from different parts of India professing different faiths and a varied back-ground with, however, the common objective of providing country with a truly national bank which would further the economic interest of the country, according to Wikipedia.

PNB has the distinction of being the first Indian bank to have been started solely with Indian capital.

As of today, the bank has over 5,800 branches and over 6,000 ATMs across 764 cities. It serves over 80 million customers.

Century Textiles & Industries

Started in: 1897

Based out of Mumbai, Century Textile and Industries deals in textile, cement, paper manufacturing and exports.

The main business activity involves manufacture of cotton textiles, yarn, denim, caustic soda, sulphuric acid, salt, cement, pulp, and paper, according to the company’s website.

The company also has a substantial dominance in the international textile markets and exports its products to more than 45 countries around the globe, according to Wikipedia.

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CESC

Started in: 1897

Earlier called as the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, the company is the flagship firm of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.

It is a fully integrated power utility with its operation spanning the entire value chain: right from mining coal, generating power, distribution of power.

It serves 2.4 million customers within 567 square kilometres of Kolkata and Howrah.

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Godrej & Boyce

Started in: 1897

Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., the holding company of the Godrej Group, which is managed and largely owned by the Godrej family. The company started as a manufacturers of quality locks. Today, it has operates in sectors as diverse as real estate, consumer products, industrial engineering, appliances, furniture, security and agricultural products.

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Indian Hotels

Started in: 1902

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) and its subsidiaries are collectively known as Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces and is recognised as one of Asia's largest and finest hotel company.

Incorporated by the founder of the Tata Group, Mr. Jamsetji N. Tata, the company opened its first property, The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Bombay in 1903.

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces comprises 93 hotels in 55 locations across India with an additional 16 international hotels in the Maldives, Malaysia, Australia, UK, USA, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Africa and the Middle East.

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Shalimar Paints

Started in: 1902

The pain manufacturing company was started by two British entrepreneurs AN Turner and AC Wright. In 1928, Pinchin Johnson & Associates of UK bought the company and took it public in 1972.

Some of India's iconic buildings and structures like the Rashtrapati Bhavan, HowrahBridge, Vidyasagar Setu and the Salt Lake Stadium have traditionally used Shalimar Paints.

By early 2014, Shalimar Paints had set up more than 58 branches and depots with over 7500 dealers throughout India.

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Tata Steel

Started in: 1907

Tata Steel is a top ten global steel maker and the world’s second most geographically diversified steel producer.

The Company has expanded globally, acquiring Asian steel producers NatSteel and Millennium Steel (now called Tata Steel Thailand) as well as Europe’s second largest steel producer Corus (now called Tata Steel Europe Limited).

Tata Steel has manufacturing operations in 26 countries, including Australia, China, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Thailand and the United Kingdom, and employs around 80,500 people, according to Wikipedia.

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ITC

Started in: 1910

Headquartered in Kolkata, ITC main areas of business include FMCG, Hotels, Paperboards & Packaging, Agri Business, and Information Technology.

Started as Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited, the company was rechristened I.T.C. Limited in 1974.

ITC employs over 25,000 people at more than 60 locations across India and is part of Forbes 2000 list.

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TVS

Started in: 1911

TVS was established by Thirukkurungudi Vengaram Sundaram Iyengar. He began with Madurai's first bus service in 1911 and founded T.V.Sundaram Iyengar and Sons Limited, a company that consolidated its presence in the transportation business with a large fleet of trucks and buses under the name of Southern Roadways Limited, according to Wikipedia.

When he died in 1955 his sons took the company ahead with several forays in the automobile sector, including finance, insurance, manufacture of two-wheelers, tyres and components.

The group has managed to run 33 companies that account for a combined turnover of nearly $3 billion.

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