Bombay Oil Industries Limited (BOIL) is an Indian

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Its subsidiaries have interests in consumer goods, agriculture, and chemicals.

History

Bombay Oil traces its origins back to 1862, when Kanji Morarji moved from Kutch to Bombay (now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

) and established a business trading

spices A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices are ...

and other goods from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. Morarji recruited his nephew, Vallabhdas Vasanji to join the business in the early 20th century. Morarji and Vasanji began exporting

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

and ginger to Europe, and over time, expanded their product line to include

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from co ...

, coconut oil, and other agricultural commodities. Vasanji had four sons, all of whom joined the family business. The family's expertise in the pepper trade earned them the name "Mariwala" (''mari'' means pepper in

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

), and Vallabhdas Vasanji subsequently adopted the name Vallabhdas Mariwala. Mariwala and his four sons founded Bombay Oil Industries Limited (BOIL) in 1947. The company aimed to leverage the family's strength in the commodities trade and combine it with manufactured goods. BOIL established four manufacturing units between 1947 and 1971, three of them in Mumbai. These units included a plant in

Sewri Sewri (IAST: ''Śivdī,'' �iʋɖiː is a locality along the eastern edge of South Mumbai, in Maharashtra, India. It is also the name of a railway station on the Central Railway Harbour Line. Sewri (pronounced as Shivdi / शिवडी) was ...

to extract coconut oil from copra, a vegetable oil refinery in

Mazagaon Mazagaon, also spelled Mazgaon and Mazagon (Portuguese rule Mazagão), and pronounced by the Catholics as 'Mazgon' or 'Maz-a-gon' and the Marathi-speakers as Mazhgav, is one of the seven islands of Mumbai. References ;Notes {{reflist ;Sou ...

, a chemical plant in Bhandup, and a plant to extract spices near

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

, Kerala. In 1980-81, BOIL split its business into three distinct divisions - consumer products,

fatty acids In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated and unsaturated compounds#Organic chemistry, saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an B ...

and chemicals, and spice extracts. In 1990, BOIL underwent a massive

restructuring Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. Other reasons ...

exercise splitting the company's businesses into four distinct companies controlled by each of the Mariwala children. The process was intended to avoid any conflict within the family, and also to help BOIL specialize in each business. The consumer products division became Marico Limited. Epro Biotechnologies was established to manufacture hybrid seeds. BOIL's spice extracts division was spun off into a firm called Kancor Flavours and Extracts Ltd, in which US-based

McCormick & Company McCormick & Company, Incorporated is an American food company that manufactures, markets, and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavoring products to retail outlets, food manufacturers, and foodservice businesses. Thei ...

held a 40% stake. BOIL also acquired

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

-based Hindustan Polyamides and Fibres Ltd and transferred control of the chemical division to the newly acquired firm. BOIL retained ownership of its popular Parachute and Saffola brands. The company leased the brand rights to Marico in exchange for regular royalty payments. On 14 June 2000, Marico purchased the brand rights for the Parachute and Saffola brands from BOIL for . Kancor Flavours and Extracts Ltd was renamed Kancor Ingredients Ltd. in 2006. France-based

Mane SA MANE is a major producer of flavours and fragrances with sales of €1,5 million in 2021. MANE was placed 7th on FoodTalks' Global Top 50 Food Flavours and Fragrances Companies list in 2021. History MANE was founded in 1871 when Victor Mane st ...

acquired a majority stake in Kancor in December 2014. Hindustan Polyamides and Fibres Ltd was rebranded as Eternis Fine Chemicals Limited in March 2015.{{cite web, title=Rajen Mariwala Interview, url=https://cewindia.com/rajen_mariwala_interview.html, website=cewindia.com, accessdate=17 May 2018

References

Indian companies established in 1947 Companies based in Mumbai Holding companies established in 1947