The Tatas of South India deserve your attention, dear investor—here’s why
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In India’s vast corporate landscape, several business groups have made their mark, yet few stand as tall as the Tata Group. Known for its strong long-term performance and exceptional corporate governance, the Tatas enjoy a level of trust few others can claim.
However, in a large country like India, very few groups can truly compare to the Tatas. Among them, one group from the South belongs in this rarefied bracket, with over a century of exemplary performance and robust governance. Though it has been around for more than a century, its story deserves a closer look.
In 1898, a 14-year-old named Dewan Bahadur AM Murugappa Chettiar ventured to Burma, now Myanmar, as an apprentice in his family’s business. Hailing from the Nattukottai Chettiar community in Tamil Nadu, renowned for its business acumen, he quickly mastered Burmese and acquired deep expertise in banking and finance. Within two decades, he built the largest private bank in Lower Burma and expanded into rubber.
The outbreak of World War II in 1929 forced Dewan Bahadur to relocate his operations to southern India, establishing Chennai as the group’s headquarters. Understanding local market needs, the group diversified into agri-solutions, financial services, and engineering. Today, nearly a century after its return to India, Dewan Bahadur’s Chennai-based enterprise, the Murugappa Group, stands as one of the country’s largest family-owned businesses.
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