Ramji Hansraj Kamani ( gu, રામજી હંસરાજ કમાણી; 21 February 1888 – 27 June 1965) also called Ramjibhai, was an Indian entrepreneur and

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

born in the village of Dhari in the

Amreli district Amreli district is one of the 33 administrative districts of the state of Gujarat in western India. The district headquarters are located at Amreli. The district occupies an area of 6,760 km2 and has a population of 1,514,190 of which 22.45 ...

of Saurashtra,

Baroda State Baroda State was a state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Confederacy from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India in 1949. With the city of Baroda (Vadodara) as its c ...

. He was the patriarch of the Kamani group companies. In June 1920, Ramjibhai joins Mahatma Gandhi's Non co-operation movement. He later communicates with Gandhi during his stint in jail. Nicol Road, a street in the Ballard Estate business district of Mumbai where the company office, Kamani Chambers is located, was rechristened Ramjibhai Kamani Marg in his honor.

Entrepreneurship

Ramjibhai Kamani pioneered many firsts for the Indian industrial sector,

electric power transmission Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...

being one, the others being production of various derivatives of non-ferrous metals and alloys for use in specialized industrial applications viz. arsenical copper plates, cupronickel sheets and production of lead oxide and zinc oxide.

Kamani Engineering Corporation KEC International Limited (Kamani Engineering Corporation) is an Indian multinational company and also India's second largest manufacturer of electric power transmission towers and one of the largest Power transmission, Engineering, Procureme ...

(KEC) also manufactured a unique and innovative road roller with the trade name ''Tractmount'' — the design created a light-weight standalone road roller which could be easily transported in a truck and could be mounted on by a tractor for use at its destination. Several were sold all over India especially in hilly and mountainous areas where it would otherwise be difficult to lug a full-sized road roller up steep mountain roads. Ramjibhai Kamani founded

(KEC) in 1945 which became the first

company in Asia and a pioneer in the field of electric power transmissionPiramal, Gita; Herdeck, Margaret, ''India's industrialists, Vol. 1,'' Rev. ed. 1986, Three Continents Press, Washington, D.C. and

railway electrification A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), el ...

. In 1950, the company received an order from the Indian government to supply transmission towers for the prestigious Bhakra Nangal Dam project and a steel tower fabrication plant was established in Bombay in partnership with R. Foures, France. This was augmented by a second unit in Jaipur, Rajasthan KEC International on Wikipedia and by 1967, KEC was supplying three-fifths of India's demand for transmission towers. By the 1970s, the Kamani group as it came to be known, consisted of seven companies with several manufacturing units in Bombay,

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a States of India, state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Gohil Koli, Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, whi ...

and Jaipur, and doing business in varied fields ranging from metals to rubber and chemicals to

jewel bearing A jewel bearing is a plain bearing in which a metal spindle turns in a jewel-lined pivot hole. The hole is typically shaped like a torus and is slightly larger than the shaft diameter. The jewels are typically made from the mineral corundum ...

s not to mention power, in both national and global markets. By the 1970s KEC had carried out turnkey power transmission projects in various countries across the globe. With eighty per cent of its turnover of almost being earned through exports, KEC soon became the largest manufacturer of transmission towers in India and the second largest in the world, next in rank to SAE of Italy. KEC accumulated heavy financial debt during the

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

and the

1979 energy crisis The 1979 oil crisis, also known as the 1979 Oil Shock or Second Oil Crisis, was an energy crisis caused by a drop in oil production in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. Although the global oil supply only decreased by approximately four per ...

both of which adversely affected international transactions conducted in US Dollars as world

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

prices quadrupled. Completing its project commitments while incurring heavy losses and unable to clear its debts, the company was auctioned by the

Maharashtra government Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

in 1982 for recovery of dues and was acquired by the RPG Group and in 1984, renamed KEC International.

Entrepreneurship

References

Further reading