Tags:
Journalism of Courage
It ’s now the chairman of the RPG Group, Harshavardhan Goenka’s turn to pay tribute to Mother Teresa with an exhibition of his private collection of 30 paintings collected over the years.
Mother Teresa has been an inspiration to Bikash Bhattacharjee, Husain, Sanjay Bhattacharyya, Shahbuddin from Bangladesh, Yussuf Arrakal, Samir Mondal to Paresh Maity. The works of these painters depicting her make this a great collection. But how has she inspired the Goenkas? After all it was only after H.V. Goenka acquired a painting of Mother Teresa by the inimitable M.F. Husain was he inspired to start collecting art and taking an interest in comtemporary Indian art especially in artists from Bengal.
It’s not just Harshavardhan Goenka who has been inspired by Mother. Priti Goenka, wife of Sanjeev Goenka, has also wielded the paintbrush and produced an impressive oil painting of Mother Teresa and her nuns — one of the 30 exhibits at the exhibition.
This painting has been signed by Mother Teresa herself and will no doubt find a special place among the RPG art collection. So who says Mother only inspired piety and poverty alienation? Art counts too.
More than mere bubbly
Under the aegis of Devin Narang, India head of South African Breweries, the world’s second largest brewer seems to be going from strength to strength. It was only a while back that Narang spearheaded the acquisition of a controlling stake in the Rajasthan-based Rochees Breweries Ltd.
The latest news is that under Narang, SABMiller has struck a deal with the Balaji Group to buy its brewing entity, Deccan Breweries, in Andhra Pradesh for Rs 8.5 crore. That Narang has decided to try his hand in an arena in which no other company has succeeded before is further impressive.
SABMiller will be the first foreign brewer to set foot in the Andhra Pradesh market. Earlier, Fosters had tried but failed miserably in its attempts to gain brewing capacity in Andhra. When SAB had first decided to enter India, it had managed to make as big an impact as it had and establish a strong foothold, thanks to its tie-up with Narang Industries which Devin Narang headed. It was owing to Narang’s marketing prowess and understanding of the liquor market and business that SAB has, unlike other foreign companies, managed to reign supreme in India.
Will this latest venture be a success or will Narang and SABMiller find themselves booted out of Andhra like those who ventured before them? Watch this space to find out.
Onwards ho!
Ajay Shriram and Vikram Shriram, the tycoons heading DSCL, are planning numerous acquisitions this year. First on the list are acquisitions which will help expand the Shriram’s sugar business in the country.
The boys are carrying on talks with a few sugar mills and should be able to finalise the acquisitions by the year-end. Not willing to restrict themselves merely to the domestic consumer segment market, the Shrirams know that this expansion will result in DSCL becoming a key player in both the institution and domestic consumer segments.
The company will also significantly increase its current production of 6,000 tonnes of sugar. Another display of the Shriram boy’s unwillingness to limit themselves to merely one sector is the other non-related expansion which they will be embarking on in the next five years. DSCL is slated to invest Rs 75 crore in five years to expand its value-added PVC market, as it has recently entered the PVC windows and doors market.
This investment could not come at a better time. SRF Polymers Ltd which their cousin Arun controls is also planning an investment of around Rs 150 crore in a related market of polyester films. At a time when the polymer and PVC sectors are receiving investments from all quarters, what better move by the Shriram boys than to increase their reach in these sectors as well.
Dilip Cherian, runs a public affairs firm Perfect Relations. He is an economy watcher and tycoon tracker. None of the people he writes about are his clients. Your insider tales are welcome at dilipcheriannow-india.net.in
