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RAMESH CHAUHAN Man with the Mida's touch
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Saturday, 17 November, 2007, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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RONITA TORCATO
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rence programme at this year's Annapoorna - World of Food India International Exhibition and Conference for the Food and Beverage Industry is Bisleri, the Indian market leader in mineral water.
The boss man at Bisleri is Ramesh Chauhan, a dynamic entrepreneur in the Indian soft drinks industry. Better known as Parle Products chairman Ramesh Chauhan worked on Research & Development energy saving in the processing of fruits and fruit drinks in the swinging 60's. Subsequently, he pioneered the manufacture of a soft drink concentrate in India without foreign collaboration. These drinks were a great success, so much so that they could compete globally, and Chauhan could even envisage giving franchises abroad.
Later he pioneered the manufacture in India, of machinery for soft drinks. For these efforts on his part, he received the award for outstanding export performance in processed foods from the Gvernment of India. He also received the United Nations Council of India-youth award in 1986, for developing local entrepreneurship, self-reliance and the soft drinks industry in India. Not to be outdone, his alma mater, Scindia School conferred on him, the Madhav award, for being an eminent Old Boy in the year 1993.
Everything has not been hunky dory for Ramesh Chauhan. Amol, the 25 year old son of his cousin Sharad Chauhan, would perish when a Kenya Airways airliner with 114 people, including 15 Indians, on board would crash after taking off from Douala airport in Cameroon on a flight to Nairobi. Amol was the Biscuit Manufacturers' Association's vice-president and a Director in the family firm, Parle Products.
Amol would be the fourth in the Chauhan family to die in a plane crash. In 1964, Madhukar Chauhan, 30, the elder brother of Ramesh , and a cousin, Jitendra Chauhan, 23 - flying from Mumbai to Ahmedabad in a Bombay Flying Club's Tiger Moth - crashed into the Arabian Sea soon after take off from the Juhu aerodrome.
On January 1, 1978, Ramesh Chauhan's sister Meenakshi was on the fateful Air India flight 855 from Mumbai to Dubai, which crashed into the sea off the coast near Bandra just after taking off from Mumbai airport. There were no survivors.
But in the concrete jungle of commercial Mumbai, imbued with a sense of CSR, Chauhan helped set up the Chauhan Institute of Science in Bombay and a charitable hospital in Bulsar. He also made a foray into publishing with the "Limca Book of Records" in India.
Business wise, Parle Bisleri Limited plans to increase its manufacturing facility and distribution network. The total project cost is estimated around Rs 260 crore resulting in 10-lakh retail outlets backed by a fleet over 5,000 vehicles.
Other plans on the anvil include the procurement of recycling plants from Japan, for its PET bottles, and set up at least two such plants in Chennai and Delhi at a cost of Rs 5crore each by this year-end. Two years from now, the company also plans to come out with an IPO. What else?
Interestingly, his cola drink Thums Up which he sold to Coca-Cola still sells more than the Coke! In India! And Bisleri is all set to go to the land of Coke and Pepsi soon.
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