Shapoorji Pallonji Group

History

The company was founded as a partnership firm Littlewood Pallonji in 1865. The first project was the construction of a pavement on the Girgaum Chowpatty, followed by being part of the construction of a reservoir on Malabar Hill which supplied water to Mumbai for over 100 years. The company also built the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. The Mumbai Central Railway station, was also built by them at a cost of 1.6 crore. The company was commended for completing the work within 21 months.

In 1936, Shapoorji Pallonji bought F.E. Dinshaw and Co. after the death of its promoter. F.E. Dinshaw was an established finance firm that had high-profile dealings such as arranging a loan from the Maharaja of Gwalior for Tata Steel (then TISCO) in 1924 and merging local cement companies to form ACC Cement in 1936. F.E. Dinshaw and Co. also had a 12.5% stake in Tata Sons, which came to Shapoorji Pallonji.

In 2001–02, Shapoorji Pallonji took over Forbes Gokak (now Forbes & Company Ltd) from the Tata Group after winning a takeover battle with the Pawankumar Sanwarmal Group.

In recent years, it has built the Barakhamba Underground Station in Delhi and Providence Stadium in Guyana. In 2010, it built India's tallest building of the time, The Imperial, a residential tower in Mumbai.

In 2012, Shapoor Mistry announced that the Group had plans to invest in a deep-sea port, an IT park, hydro electricity and construction of roads and night shelters for the poor in West Bengal. In 2012, Shapoorji Pallonji Ports Pvt Ltd was planning to build Simar Port in Gujarat with SPV name Simar Port Private Limited.

In January 2016, the Group launched its first affordable housing brand, Joyville Homes.

Shapoorji Pallonji Group began a series of divestments to reduce its debt, starting with the initial public offering of Sterling & Wilson Solar in 2019. In 2021–2022, Shapoorji Pallonji Group demerged Eureka Forbes from Forbes & Company Ltd and sold its entire stake in Eureka Forbes to Advent International. By 2024, Shapoorji Pallonji's stake in Sterling & Wilson Solar had reduced to 6.95% from 65.77% in 2019.

In 2023, Shapoorji Pallonji Group sold PNP Port in Raigad district to JSW Group. In 2024, Shapoorji Pallonji Group sold its controlling stake in Gopalpur port to Adani Ports & SEZ.

Other works

The Shapoorji Pallonji has also had a brief involvement with Bollywood. Released in 1960, K. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam was funded by the group with a budget of 1.5 crore, which made it the most expensive Bollywood film till then and a record it held for many years. More than four decades later, the group funded a digital remastering of the film at a budget of 5 crore, which was released on 12 November 2004. Shapoor Mistry, grandson of Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, thought it a fitting tribute to complete his grandfather's unfinished dream of colourising the film, especially as the original was produced by his grandfather.

Key people

Shapoor Mistry

Shapoor Mistry is an Indian businessman who inherited the group in December 2012, succeeding his brother Cyrus Mistry, who left to lead the Tata Group. Forbes ranked Mistry #332 in their 2023 World's Billionaires List, totaling $7 billion in net worth. In October 2024, Mistry and his family were ranked 13th on Forbes list of India's 100 richest tycoons, with a net worth of $20.4 billion.

References

References

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