Henning Holck-Larsen (4 July 1907 – 27 July 2003) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

engineer who co-founded the

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 ...

n engineering firm

Larsen & Toubro Larsen & Toubro Ltd, commonly known as L&T, is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, with business interests in engineering, construction, manufacturing, technology, information technology and financial services, headquartered in Mumba ...

(L&T).

Early life and career

Henning Holck-Larsen was educated at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

(and what is now the

Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's fir ...

). He came to

in 1937 as a chemical engineer working for F. L. Smidth & Co. of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. Partnering with his former schoolmate and fellow employee Søren Kristian Toubro, he set up

in 1938. The idea of L&T was conceived during a holiday in

Matheran Matheran is an automobile-free hill station and a municipal council in the Karjat taluka of the Raigad district located in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Matheran is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and one of the smallest hill ...

, a hill station near

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 ...

. Holck-Larsen was a risk-taker while Toubro was more conservative. Larsen and Toubro saw opportunities in India at a time when few Europeans had realised the country's potential for industrial growth. The first office of L&T, located in Mumbai, was so small that only one of them could use it at a time. Initially, L&T represented Danish dairy equipment manufacturers. However, the Danish imports were restricted during the

World War II 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 ...

, forcing L&T to start a small workshop that provided servicing and undertook small jobs. The imports stopped after the

German invasion of Denmark The German invasion of Denmark (german: Operation Weserübung – Süd), was the German attack on Denmark on 9 April 1940, during the Second World War. The attack was a prelude to the invasion of Norway (german: Weserübung Nord, 9 April – 10 ...

, forcing L&T to start manufacturing dairy equipment indigenously, a move that was successful. Seeing opportunity in ship repair during wartime, Larsen and Toubro formed a new company called Hilda Ltd. Around this time, L&T also started two repair and fabrication shops. The internment of German engineers who were supposed to build a soda ash plant for the

Tatas The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continents ...

provided L&T another new opportunity. In 1944, Larsen and Toubro established Engineering Construction & Contracts (ECC). L&T started collaborating with international companies around this time. In 1945, it signed an agreement with the Caterpillar Tractor Company of USA for marketing earthmoving equipment. L&T also started representing British manufacturers of equipment used to manufacture a variety of products including biscuits, glass, hydrogenated oils and soaps. At the end of the World War II, the war-surplus Caterpillar equipment were available in bulk at low prices. However, L&T lacked the money to purchase them. Therefore, Larsen and Toubro decided to raise additional equity capital, and as a result, Larsen & Toubro Private Limited was established on 7 February 1946. After India gained independence in 1947, L&T set up offices in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, Madras and

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

. Larsen and Toubro gradually transformed L&T into a large business house with diverse interests, and went on to become one of the most successful Indian companies. After retirement, Holck-Larsen served as the chairman emeritus of the company. He used to call India his "adopted homeland" and divided his time between Denmark and India. He died in 2003 at the Breach Candy hospital,

Awards and recognitions

* Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding (1976) *

Knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

from Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (1977) * Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial Peace (1980) * Chemtech Foundation's Chemical Industry Stalwart Award (2000) * Bombay Management Association's Lifetime Achievement Award (2001) * Citation from the Indo-European Union Business Summit for promoting business beyond boundaries (2002) *

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 ...

(2002) for contribution to Indian industry. * India Post issued a commemorative postage stamp of Rs 5.00 on 12 June 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holcklarsen, Henning 1907 births 2003 deaths Larsen & Toubro 20th-century Danish businesspeople Danish expatriates in India People from Frederiksberg Businesspeople from Copenhagen Businesspeople from Mumbai Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in trade and industry Ramon Magsaysay Award winners