Bhalchandra Digamber Garware (fondly referred to as Abasaheb Garware) was a pioneering industrialist from Maharashtra state in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and Founder Chairman of the Garware Group of Industries.

Early life

Abasaheb Garware was born in

Tasgaon Tasgaon Tasgaon is a city in Maharashtra and a municipal council in Sangli district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Tasgaon city is developing city in Maharashtra. Tasgaon was given as Jahagir to Parshuram Bhau Tasgaonkar by Narayanrao Ba ...

Satara district Satara district (Marathi pronunciation: aːt̪aɾaː is a district of Maharashtra state in western India with an area of and a population of 3,003,741 of which 14.17% were urban (). Satara is the capital of the district and other major towns ...

of Bombay Presidency on 21 December 1903. He faced poverty since his father wasted away all the family wealth and incurred large amount of

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...

s. Due to the financial position at home he was forced to leave

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

after passing the then 6th Standard High School exam.

Struggle and rise in second-hand car market

After initial struggle in

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 ...

he started an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

business for his livelihood which made some decent earnings for him. During this time since he was in automobile business he got an idea of the potential for a

second-hand Used goods mean any item of personal property offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender, but excluding books, magazines, and postage stamps. Risks Furniture, in particular bedding or upholstere ...

car market. He then started working as an agent for selling second-hand cars. Eventually with his

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

and hard work he established his "Deccan Motor Agency" in

Girgaon Girgaon, or Girgaum, is an area in southern Mumbai in Maharashtra, India. It is near the coast. A section of Marine Drive is located here. See also *Girgaum Chowpatti *Tanks of Bombay Although the tanks have long vanished, the city of Bom ...

, a suburb of Mumbai (then Bombay) and earned repute as a reliable dealer in cars. He also got into the business of selling spares, accessories,

tyres A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...

, etc. In 1933, Abasaheb decided to go to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

since second-hand cars were cheap in England then. In

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

he not only dealt with second hand cars but he also purchased firms from businessmen taking advantage of recession. This move brought him good profits. His move of buying cars in England helped him to get a good grip on the second-hand car business.

Entry into plastic industry

He showed his business acumen once again when he entered the

Plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

Industry. He identified Plastic Industry as an upcoming industry and hence he entered it. He started manufacturing Plastic buttons for the Navy during the

2nd World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Eventually he got into a number of ventures related to Plastic industry like

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pe ...

Yarn, Nylon Bristles,

fishing net A fishing net is a Net (device), net used for fishing. Nets are devices made from fibers woven in a grid-like structure. Some fishing nets are also called fish traps, for example #Fyke nets, fyke nets. Fishing nets are usually meshes formed by ...

s, Polyester Films, Synthetic

Rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similar ...

s, Plastic injection molding and

blow molding Blow molding (or moulding) is a manufacturing process for forming hollow plastic parts. It is also used for forming glass bottles or other hollow shapes. In general, there are three main types of blow molding: extrusion blow molding, injectio ...

, etc. He had a good success due to his keenness of quality.

Contributions to social cause

Abasaheb was an entrepreneur who put into practice

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

ji’s precepts of trusteeship for the good of workers. He attributed his success to his team. He decided to pay back his earnings to Society to distribute his profit towards social causes like

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

, education etc. He also made numerous donations for

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

s and

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physici ...

libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

, gymnasia, etc. Annual Scholarships and awards were also instituted by him to promote academic excellence among students. He founded about seventy five Trusts for pursuing various charitable objectives. His contributions in the field of education has also been invaluable. Due to his efforts a number of Educational Institutions were set up such as the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

’s Garware Institute of Career Education and Development and Smt. Mathubai Garware College for women at

Sangli Sangli () is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks ...

. His charitable donations to the Maharashtra Education Society, Pune led to that organization renaming its colleges and a school as the

Abasaheb Garware College Abasaheb Garware College of Arts and Science (commonly referred to as Garware College) is a college located in Pune, India. It is run by the Maharashtra Education Society, a private education institution founded by Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Vaman ...

, the Abasaheb Garware college of Commerce and Smt. Vimlabai Garware High school respectively.

Awards and honours

He was appointed as

Sheriff of Mumbai The Sheriff of Bombay is an apolitical titular position of authority bestowed for one year on a prominent citizen of Bombay. The Sheriff is an officer of the High Court and the nominal Head of the High Court Department which carries out the or ...

in 1959. He was also chosen to lead institutions like the State Bank of India, Maharashtra State Financial Corporation and many delegations to foreign countries. The Government of India bestowed on him the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

award in 1971. He was also awarded the Udyog Ratna by the

Institute of Economic Studies The Institute for Economic Studies - Europe (IES) is a Paris-based non-profit organization created in 1989. IES faculty include Tibor Machan, Douglass Rasmussen, Tom G. Palmer, Joseph Pini, Carlo Lottieri, Stephen Davies, Colin Ganley, Boudewijn ...

in 1989. He received an honorary D. Litt. Degree from the

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...

in 1989. The

Department of Posts India Post is a government-operated postal system in India, part of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. Warren Hastings ha ...

of India honored Abasaheb Garware with a commemorative

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

in 2004.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garware, Abasaheb 1903 births 1990 deaths Businesspeople from Maharashtra People from Sangli district Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in trade and industry Sheriffs of Mumbai