Murugappa Group: 125 Years of Quiet Resilience and Turnaround Triumphs

Synopsis: How did the Murugappa Group, once a Burma-based money-lending firm, evolve into a Rs 90,000 crore conglomerate and master the art of corporate turnarounds in India?

The Murugappa Group started as a banking and money-lending business in Burma (now Myanmar) before World War I. During the war, it shifted its base to South India, where it expanded rapidly into sectors like agri-solutions, financial services, and engineering. Over the decades, the Group built strong market-leading companies and today has 10 publicly listed firms, including Carborundum Universal, CG Power, Cholamandalam Financial Holdings, Coromandel International, and E.I.D.-Parry, etc. 

With a reputation for value creation and strong governance, the Murugappa Group has grown into a diversified conglomerate valued at Rs 902 billion.

Early Days and Foundations of the Murugappa Group (Surviving World War I and II)

The group’s founder, Dewan Bahadur AM Murugappa Chettiar, set up a money-lending and banking business in Myanmar under the name AMM Rm Firm. Between 1915-1934, the group diversified into textiles, rubber plantations, insurance, and stock broking, by expanded the business to Malaysia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. Between 1934-1949, the company moved its assets to India before the Japanese invasion of Burma (Myanmar) in World War II. It ventures into the industry with investments in emery paper and steel furniture. The year 1949 came as a breakthrough year for the company as it established TI Cycles of India Limited in collaboration with Tube Investments Limited, UK, the world’s largest manufacturer of bicycles at the time.

In 1954, the company incorporated CUMI, a JV between Carborundum Company, USA, Universal Grinding Wheel Company, UK, and the Murugappa Group, India. Meanwhile, Tube Investments of India (TII) was diversifying its operations into tube products, metal-formed products, and chains. TI Cycles launched the BSA SLR brand, which caters to urban cycling needs, and by 1960, it had successfully sold its one millionth bicycle. 

Turnaround Genius

The group’s success is not limited to its rich history and legacy but also to the way it has made acquisitions and turned around the companies from loss-making to cash cows. 

Founded in 1788, ‘Parry’ has been a household name for over 225 years. The company holds the distinction of setting up India’s first sugar plant at Nellikuppam in 1842 and even today continues to pioneer new paths in each of its businesses. Currently, the company has the capacity to crush 40,800 tonnes per day of sugarcane, a cogeneration plant of 140 megawatts, and a distillery of 582 KLPD as of September 2025. Moreover, it has been given the title of “Superbrand,” which makes it the only sugar company to be awarded 5 years in a row.

When the Murugappa Group took over EID Parry in 1981, it was a struggling company plagued by mismanagement, corruption, and low employee morale, which hurt productivity and farmer trust. The Murugappa Group immediately improved transparency and accountability by installing modern weighbridges with digital displays, standardizing processes, and revamping factory operations, which restored goodwill and stabilized supplier relations. Recognizing that increasing farm yields alone was insufficient, Murugappa focused on building a robust distribution infrastructure to enable cost-effective, bidirectional distribution of products and services in rural India. This strategy helped unlock access to vast rural markets that were previously difficult and expensive to serve. 

The Group also laid the foundations for trading infrastructure, aimed at providing farmers with real-time price information and market access, thereby empowering them and improving market efficiency. Furthermore, Murugappa introduced a franchisee-based model leveraging EID Parry’s strong brand and packaging capabilities, enabling franchisees to procure and sell products under the Parry brand, thus expanding reach and enhancing synergies across the sugar business and allied products.

Over the decades, the Group has continuously evolved EID Parry’s business mix by expanding into bio-energy, distilleries, and consumer products while maintaining leadership in sugar manufacturing. These efforts turned EID Parry into southern India’s largest sugar producer.  In FY25, the company generated revenue of Rs 7,523 crore (excluding Coromandel International). 

It is an 87-year-old engineering conglomerate and a leader in the electrical engineering industry. Since November 2020, the company has become a part of the Murugappa Group. It was making heavy losses between FY16 and FY20, and in just FY20, it recorded a loss of Rs 1,331 crore. The loss was mainly due to a debt of Rs 2,161 crore as of March 31, 2020. Moreover, the company was crippled by accounting fraud and promoter malpractices, which also made the company’s financials and operations poor.

Vellayan Subbiah, in his first letter as the chairman of the company in FY21, discussed the priorities. At first, the company settled the outstanding dues of employees, vendors, and other creditors as the first step of revival. The second priority for the company was to restore normalcy of operations across all the business divisions. Steps such as the timely infusion of working capital, transitioning & adjusting to the alignment of leadership teams helped the company to accomplish this goal. 

This improvement enabled sequential improvements in the quarterly financial performance of the company. CG Power grew its total income at a 22% CAGR between FY22 and FY25 after Murugappa took over. Moreover, PBT drastically improved from a loss of Rs 1,400 crore to a positive Rs 1,348 crore in FY25. 

Murugappa group – Expert in unlocking value

Apart from turnaround stories, the company has also scaled up its businesses. In 2010, the Murugappa group bought the entire stake of Cholamandalam Investment and Finance from DBS Bank. Since then, it has expanded into the tractor finance, home loan, and gold loan segments as well. It has been growing its AUM at an astounding 24% CAGR consistently for the past 15 years, while PAT has been growing at 35% CAGR over the same time period. It has more than 42.4 lakh customers, with over 1,700 branches, as of September 2025. Market capitalisation of the company stood at Rs 1,45,182 crore on 02 December 2025, compared to just Rs 2,059 crore in FY11.

Coromandel International, a subsidiary of EID Parry, was incorporated in 1961. It is the largest private player in the NPK industry with a market share of 18% and also the largest share of 15% in single super phosphate for FY25. It has generated a revenue of Rs 24,085 crore and a PAT of Rs 2,055 crore, which have been growing at 8% and 21% CAGR since FY16, respectively. 

Other notable companies under the Murugappa Group

• Carborundum Universal Limited: It is one of the major manufacturers of abrasives, ceramics, refractories, and electro-minerals as part of the Murugappa Group. It is among the largest global producers of silicon carbide grains and the 2nd-largest global producer of metallized cylinders. It exports to 60+ countries where its products are sold. The company generated revenue of Rs 4,894 crore as of FY25.
• Cholamandalam Financial Holdings Limited: It is the core investment holding company of the Murugappa Group. It primarily holds stakes in Cholamandalam Investment & Finance, Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited.  Emphasizes asset quality, risk management, and synergies with group entities.​ It has been set up to house the financial services business of the Murugappa group. The company generated revenue of Rs 33,196 crore as of FY25.
• NACL Industries Limited: It is an agrochemical company focused on crop protection solutions. It offers insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, plant growth regulators, and technicals for domestic and export markets. It has a presence across 22 countries and has more than 66 branded products in its portfolio.
• Shanthi Gears Limited: It is a pioneer in industrial gearing solutions and a subsidiary of Tube Investments of India. It has an extensive presence in the industrial gears segment for five decades and caters to a reputed clientele from diversified sectors such as general engineering, steel, lifts, railways, cement, and power, among others.
• Tube Investments of India Limited: It is a diversified engineering company that manufactures precision components and mobility solutions. It is the largest manufacturer of cold-drawn welded steel tubes and the market leader of transmission chains in India. It is also the 2nd largest manufacturer of cycle transmission chains in India, with 35+ manufacturing locations. The company generated revenue of Rs 19,465 crore as of FY25.
• Wendt (India) Limited: It is one of the leading players in the domestic superabrasive industry in India. The company’s established presence in the industry, as well as its strong research and development (R&D) and technical capabilities, enable it to maintain a healthy market position in the industry. WIL’s presence in machine tools and precision components also augurs well for the company.

Concluding remarks

What distinguishes the Murugappa Group is its ability to transform struggling companies into market leaders. Its turnaround of EID Parry exemplifies this, reviving a mismanaged sugar firm by installing operational transparency, boosting employee morale, and building a robust rural distribution network. Similarly, CG Power’s rapid recovery from heavy losses to profitability underlines Murugappa’s execution strength.

Murugappa Group goes beyond acquisitions by building infrastructure, fostering rural empowerment, and leveraging brand strength to expand reach. For investors, this underlines that patient capital in well-governed management with a clear strategic vision can unlock significant value. The Group’s success teaches that true growth comes from continuous innovation, operational efficiency, and the capacity to unlock hidden potential in legacy businesses. Their story is a masterclass in quiet, steady growth that withstands cycles, an essential insight for those seeking sustainable long-term investments.

Written By Ashish Sengupta

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