Uttambhai Nathalal Mehta (1924 - 1998) was an Indian businessman and the founder and chairman of

Torrent Group Torrent Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, based in Ahmedabad. It was founded by Uttambhai Nathalal Mehta, and now run by his sons, Sudhir and Samir Mehta. The core businesses of the group are gas, pharmaceuticals and power. S ...

Early and personal life

Mehta was born in Mehmadpur, a small village in

Palanpur Palanpur is a city and a municipality of Banaskantha district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Palanpur is the administrative headquarters of Banaskantha district. Palanpur is the ancestral home to an industry of Indian diamond merchants. Ety ...

district, India. After finishing his primary education in Palanpur, moved to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, where he completed his

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from Wilson College, while staying at the Mahavir Jain Vidyalay hostel. Mehta and his wife Shardaben, had four children, sons

Sudhir Sudhir is an Indian given name, Indian masculine given name. The Sanskrit word ' means "very wise", "resolute". Notable people with the name include: *Sudhir (Pakistani actor) (1922–1997), Pakistani actor *Sudhir (Hindi actor) (1944–2014), ...

and

Samir Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...

, and daughters Meena and Nayna.

Career

He started his career as a government servant in 1944. He worked as a medical representative for the pharmaceutical company

Sandoz Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

from 1945 to 1958. Then in 1959 he took the path breaking decision to start his own firm Trinity Laboratories with a seed capital of just Rs 25,000. This organization began to manufacture special medicines. In 1968, Mr. Mehta began to market a medicine for treatment of mental diseases at a very reasonable price. It was a big step at a time when only multinational companies manufactured specialty drugs, and subsequently Mr. Mehta went on to establish Torrent Laboratories in 1976. The company began marketing a number of useful drugs at very competitive prices and soon made a name for itself. Today, Torrent is a large company engaged in the business of pharmaceutical goods and power generation. Mr. Mehta also contributed generously to social, educational and charitable institutions and causes.

Awards and recognition

He was conferred with numerous felicitations, including the ‘Business Man of the Year’ award in 1996-97 from the Government of India.

Torrent Torrent or torrents may refer to: * A fast flowing stream Animals * Torrent duck, a species of the family Anatidae * Torrent fish * Torrent frog, various unrelated frogs * Torrent robin, a bird species * Torrent salamander, a family of sala ...

has also won many awards for excellence in manufacturing, exporting and marketing. U. N. Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre (UNMICRC) at

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

is named after him. Over the years,

Torrent group Torrent Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, based in Ahmedabad. It was founded by Uttambhai Nathalal Mehta, and now run by his sons, Sudhir and Samir Mehta. The core businesses of the group are gas, pharmaceuticals and power. S ...

has provided sizeable financial contribution, which has been used for constructing a 450-bedded facility. Apart from Hospital Infrastructure development, Torrent’s Patient Care Initiative Programme at UNMICRC has resulted in effective service delivery and better hospital management. The treatment is rendered to all patients, particularly the economically disadvantaged. Free Cardiac treatment is provided to Gujarat domiciled children and patients from the weaker strata.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Uttambhai Nathalal 1924 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Indian businesspeople Indian company founders Indian chairpersons of corporations People from Banaskantha district Torrent Group Indian Jains 20th-century Indian Jains