Arvind Lalbhai
04 August 2007
Arvind Lalbhai was a man with a vision for the textile business as well as a large heart for disadvantaged people.
Much
more than a mere industrialist, 89-year-old Arvind Lalbhai,
who passed away in the early hours of 3 August, was a
man with a vision for the textile business as well as
a heart for disadvantaged people. He was known for his
entrepreneurial business skills, and he brought them into
play for his passion, to ease the suffering of the physically
challenged.
But he was no mean industrialist either. This was nowhere seen more clearly than in the mid-1980s, when India''s organised textile industry was in crisis. Small power loom units were churning out huge quantities of fabric at prices the mills could not match, and composite mills lost their markets, many having to fold up for good.
That Arvind Mills saw its highest level of profitability at this very time speaks volumes about Lalbhai''s stewardship and foresight. He managed Arvind Mills from 1975 to 2002 and, during these years, transformed his company from one of many makers of high-quality fabrics to India''s largest denim manufacturer, with a global market.
He set up the Blind Men''s Association of Ahmedabad, renowned as one of the best managed institutions in the country for the care of the blind and physically handicapped. He was also the president of the all- India National Association for Blind (NAB) and also the Gujarat Sankat Nivaran Society, known for relief work during droughts, floods and other natural disasters. He was also on the Board of Trustees of Gujarat Cancer and Research Society. An Indophile to the core, he was the chairman of the LD Institute of Indology.
Born on 3 April 1918, Arvind Narottam Lalbhai graduated from Bombay University and joined the Asoka Mills, of which he became the chairman. He was also on the board of directors of several textile mills and other companies making chemicals, dyes, engineering, glass, paper, rubber, etc. He was a member of the board of directors of the State Bank of India, the Gujarat Financial Corporation, the Gujarat State Warehousing Corporation, and other state-owned corporations.
