About Company
Our Founder - Sir Shri Ram (April 27,1884- January 11,1963)
Sir Shri Ram was an eminent and outstanding industrialist and one of the trend-setting visionary leaders of the Indian business community. He possessed the rare business perceptions and uncommon entrepreneurial acumen for setting up industries.
Sir Shri Ram began as a humble worker and went on to set up one of India’s largest business houses - the DCM Group. Born into a family of modest means, Shri Ram, in the 79 years of his life, built an industrial empire manufacturing a vast variety of goods like - textiles, sugar, chemicals, vanaspati, pottery, fans, sewing machines, electric motors and capacitors.
In 1909 , Shri Ram joined DCM at the age of 25 years. Lala Shri Ram’s earlier entrepreneurial initiatives had ended in debacles. It was in 1917 at DCM at the end of the First World War that he got the opportunity to choose entrepreneurial alternatives. It was Madan Mohan Lall and Shri Ram’s managerial initiatives in expanding the Company’s government business during the First World War that brought about the recovery in DCM. He came in to prominence as he wanted DCM to expand. Along the years he diversified into many other businesses also.
His dealings with the workers throw into relief another aspect of his personality. Unlike other industrialists of his stature he would communicate with the working class. In a society as stratified as the Indian, society he has the unusual gift of looking at the process of industrialization through the workers eyes.
At a time when the country faced problems of multiple dimensions, the biggest challenge before the first Prime Minister Pt. J. L. Nehru was to lay foundation of industrially self-reliant India. Sir Shriram left no stone unturned in realizing the dreams of independent India by setting up of new lines of industrial units with the highest standards of quality. He took lead and brought the entrepreneurs of that period together by forming institutions like CII, FICCI and PHDCCI, which today play a key role in the growth of Modern India. His election in 1930 at the age of 46 as the President of FICCI showed his national status.
Even British Raj recognized the contributions made by Sir Shriram towards the development of society and hence conferred him with a knighthood.
Shri Ram was among the earliest industrialists who could foresee the usefulness of organized approach by the country’s business community. Moreover, in seeking growth for his enterprises, Shriram scrupulously pursued a policy which had its foundation based on intellectual integrity, devotion to duty, and a liberal humanism directed towards the common weal of all sections of Indian society.
Dr. Bharat Ram (October 15,1914- July 11, 2007)
Dr. Bharat Ram was born in Delhi, the son of Lala Shri Ram, who founded Delhi Cloth & General Mills. Dr. Bharat Ram completed his preliminary education at Modern School New Delhi. He graduated from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi with a degree in economics. After his graduation in 1935, he joined Delhi Cloth & General Mills as an apprentice and rose to the position of chairman and managing director in 1958.
Dr. Bharat Ram founded Shriram Fibres (SRF Ltd) in 1970 . He served on various government committees and wrote two books: Glimpses of Industrial India and From Istanbul to Vienna. He also became the chairman of Indian Airlines. He received the Padma Bhushan award in 1972.
He is regarded as one of the most influential leaders of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, which he headed in 1965. He had earlier been the president of the PHDCCI. He also became the first Asian president of International Chamber of Commerce in 1969.
Dr. Bharat Ram was a passionate golfer and helped found the Indian Golf Union.