R. P. Goenka facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
R. P. Goenka
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R.P. Goenka and Sanjiv Goenka of RPG Enterprises presenting a cheque of Rs. 1 crore to the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, towards the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund in New Delhi, 2005.
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| Born | 1 March 1930 Kolkata, British India
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| Died | 14 April 2013 (aged 83) Kolkata, West Bengal, India
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| Occupation | Industrialist, Founder, Chairman Emeritus RPG Group |
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Rama Prasad Goenka (born March 1, 1930 – died April 14, 2013) was a very important Indian businessman. He founded and led the RPG Group, a large company that works in many different areas. He was often called R.P. Goenka.
R.P. Goenka was the oldest son of Keshav Prasad Goenka. His grandfather, Sir Badri Prasad Goenka, was the first Indian to become the Chairman of the Imperial Bank of India. This bank is now known as the State Bank of India. R.P. Goenka had two younger brothers, Jagdish Prasad and Gouri Prasad. After their father passed away, the family businesses were divided among the three brothers. R.P. Goenka then started his own company, RPG Enterprises, in 1979.
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Early Life and Education
R.P. Goenka was born in Kolkata, India. He went to Presidency College in his hometown. This college was part of the University of Calcutta. He also studied at Harvard University in the United States.
A Leader in Business and Public Service
R.P. Goenka was not just a businessman. He was also a Member of Parliament (M.P.) in the Rajya Sabha. This is the upper house of the Indian Parliament.
He held many important positions:
- He was the chairman of the Board of Governors for the International Management Institute.
- He was a trustee for several important organizations. These included the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund.
- He was also a trustee for the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
- He served as the president of the FICCI, a large business organization in India.
- He was the past chairman of the Board of Governors for the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur.
- He even served as a trustee for the famous Tirupati Temple.
R.P. Goenka received special honors from the Emperor of Japan. He was given the Order of the Sacred Treasure twice.
Building a Business Empire
R.P. Goenka became very well-known for growing his business by buying other companies. He was sometimes called the 'takeover king'. He bought many different companies over the years.
Some of the companies he acquired include:
- Dunlop India and CESC in 1980.
- CEAT Tyres in 1982.
- RPG Life Sciences (which was Searle India at the time) and KEC International in 1985.
- The Gramophone Co. of India (now called Saregama) in 1986.
- Spencers and Harrisons Malayalam in 1988.
- Bayer India and Firstsource Solutions Limited in 2012.
He used his business skills to make these companies successful.
The Goenka Family History
The Goenka family comes from the Marwari community. This community is known for business and trade. The family originally came from Rajasthan in western India.
A long time ago, in the 1800s, a family member named Ramdutt Goenka moved to Kolkata. At that time, Kolkata was the capital of India. It was also a very important place for business in the British Empire. The family did well in their traditional businesses of trading and lending money.
In the 1970s, R.P. Goenka used his family's wealth to buy many different companies. This is how he built his large business group. Many companies in India were facing challenges at that time. R.P. Goenka was able to buy these companies at a good price. He then used his financial knowledge and business skills to make them strong again. By the end of the 1900s, he had created a very big business empire.
The Goenka business empire is special for two reasons:
- They did not start most of their main businesses from scratch. Instead, they bought existing companies from other families or groups.
- The companies they bought were very different from each other. This made their business group very diverse.
Family Life
R.P. Goenka passed away on April 14, 2013, in Kolkata. He had two sons: his elder son, Harsh Vardhan, and his younger son, Sanjiv.
