Kolkata: RPG Group founder Rama Prasad Goenka, a doyen of Indian industry and business titan of eastern India, died last morning at his South Kolkata home after a long battle with cancer. Goenka, 83, is survived by wife Sushila and two sons Harsh and Sanjiv — both leading industrialists.
While Harsh is now RPG Enterprises chairman, his younger brother Sanjiv is the chairman of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, after the tycoon amicably divided his entire business between them about three years ago. Goenka was chairman emeritus of both the groups.
Goenka’s undivided business empire encompassed - CESC, Noida Power Co. Ltd., RPG Raychem, Spencer, CEAT Tyers, Saregama India (previously Gramophone Co of India), KEC International, Phillips Carbon Black, Fujitsu ICIM (now Zensar Technologies), Harrisons Malayalam, Firstsource Solutions Ltd. and RPG Life Sciences.
The former Rajya Sabha member headed a bouquet of companies spanning a wide range and across diverse sectors like power generation, transmission and distribution, electricity transmission engineering, tyres, carbon black, retail, entertainment, plantations and information technology.
Regarded as “takeover king”, Goenka in 1979 established the RPG Enterprises with four companies — Phillips Carbon Black, Asian Cables, Agarpara Jute and Murphy India - which he inherited when the family assets were divided. The four constituent units then had an annual turnover of around Rs.105 crore, but by 1990 - even before the opening up of the country’s economy - Goenka was presiding over one of the leading business conglomerates in India, as he mostly acquired companies once owned by British merchants.
IANS
