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Business News/ Companies / 70 companies with pre-1947 roots

70 companies with pre-1947 roots

The 70 companies operating in India since before 1947

Photo: PTI

1853: OTIS ELEVATOR CO. LTD

American inventor Elisha Graves Otis built the first safety elevator in 1852. In the 1870s, Otis entered Europe. Its elevators were installed at the Kremlin, Balmoral Castle, the Hungarian Royal Palace and the Eiffel Tower. In the early 1900s, the Buckingham and the Mysore Palaces were also home to Otis elevators

1863: BOMBAY BURMAH TRADING CORP. LTD

Bombay Burmah Trading Corp. was formed to encourage the teak business. Gradually, it expanded its trading all over Asia. In 1913, it turned to tea plantations, its current business. It is a leading company of the Wadia Group.

1865: ALLAHABAD BANK

The oldest joint stock bank in India, Allahabad Bank was founded on 24 April 1865, by three Europeans in the city after which it is named. Allahabad Bank and corporate India grew side by side. In 1969, it was one of the 14 banks to be nationalized.

1866: NESTLÉ

In 1866, German-born pharmacist Henri Nestlé developed farine lactée (flour with milk) in Vevey, Switzerland, for infants. World War I brought good business because of demand for its condensed milk. It survived the Great Depression because of its iconic Nescafé coffee. Nestlé is now the largest food and beverage company in the world.

1892: BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD

Britannia Industries was founded with Rs295 to cater to British officers and their families. Operations were mechanized in 1910 and industrial ovens installed in 1921. In 1954, it pioneered high-quality sliced and wrapped bread. In 2000, Britannia was among the top 300 small firms on the Forbes global list.

1895: PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK

Founded in Lahore in 1895 by a group of visionaries and patriots—including Lala Lajpat Rai and E.C. Jessawala—Punjab National Bank (PNB) was born out of the sentiment that “Indian capital was being used to run English banks and companies..." PNB was the first bank in India to introduce the teller system in 1944.

1897: CENTURY TEXTILES AND INDUSTRIES LTD

Incorporated in 1897 as a public limited company, Century Textiles and Industries had only one unit until 1951—a cotton textile mill. Since then it has made rapid progress in yarn, denim, and pulp and paper industries, among others. In 2016, it won the IMC Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality “Best Practices award".

1897: GODREJ AND BOYCE MANUFACTURING CO. LTD

In 1897, Ardeshir Godrej decided to make locks, safes and security equipment. In 1918, the company launched Chavi, the first soap in the world to be made from vegetable oil. It was chosen to manufacture ballot boxes for India’s first general elections in 1951.

1899: CALCUTTA ELECTRICITY SUPPLY CORPORATION

The Calcutta Electricity Supply Corporation (now CESC Ltd) was commissioned by the British government as part of its push to modernize India. Being the British capital till 1911, Calcutta (now Kolkata) was the first Indian city to be entirely electrified.

1902: SHALIMAR PAINT COLOUR AND VARNISH CO.

Initially called Shalimar Paint Colour and Varnish Co., Shalimar Paints Ltd was established in 1902 in Howrah by A.N. Turner and A.N. Wright. The company has pioneered aviation coatings, marine paints and the painting of thermal power plants. The Rashtrapati Bhavan, Howrah Bridge and the Salt Lake Stadium continue to use Shalimar paints

1903: INDIAN HOTELS CO. LTD

The Indian Hotels Co. was incorporated in 1903 by Jamsetji Tata. The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai was the first to be opened by the Indian business conglomerate. One anecdote says Tata wanted to build the best hotel by European standards for Indians after facing racial discrimination at the Watson’s Hotel in Mumbai, while another reason posited in the 1880s by Lovat Fraser, a former Times of India editor and a close friend of the Tatas, goes that he wanted to attract the best people from the world over to improve Bombay (now Mumbai).

1904: KUMBAKONAM BANK LTD

Now called City Union Bank Ltd, Kumbakonam Bank was incorporated as a limited company on 31 October 1904. Initially, it preferred a regional role and adopted an agency model, and opened its first branch in 1930. Its name was changed to City Union Bank in 1987.

1905: PHOENIX MILLS LTD

Ramnarain Ruia, then head of the Ruia business family, acquired Phoenix Mills and two other mills in 1905 to begin his textiles business. In 1959, the firm was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and in 1987, ventured into real estate and built the famous shopping hub, High Street Phoenix, Mumbai. India’s first hypermarket, Big Bazaar, was opened at the mall in 2001.

1906: CANARA BANKING CORP. (UDIPI) LTD

Now known as Corporation Bank, this bank opened its first branch only in 1923. Nationalized in 1980, it became the second public sector bank in India to enter the capital market, with its initial public offering being oversubscribed 13 times in 1997.

1906: CANARA BANK HINDU PERMANENT FUND

Philanthropist Ammembal Subbarao Pai founded Canara Bank in 1906 and called it the Canara Bank Hindu Permanent Fund. It was renamed Canara Bank in 1969 after nationalization. Its first overseas branch opened in London in 1993. The bank went public in 2002-03.

1906: BANK OF INDIA

Founded by a group of eminent businessmen from Bombay, including Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, Bank of India was under private ownership till July 1969 when it was nationalized. It was the first among the nationalized banks to establish a fully computerized branch and ATM at the Mahalaxmi Branch in Mumbai in 1989.

1907: ALEMBIC PHARMACEUTICALS LTD

Alembic Pharmaceuticals was founded in 1907 with the support of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad, two renowned chemists—Prof. T.K. Gajjar and Prof. Kotibhaskar—and B. D. Amin, a business management expert. It brought about the distillation of spirit by modern processes and the utilization of spirit in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products.

1907: TATA STEEL LTD

Tata Steel established one of Asia’s first integrated steel plants in 1907 in Jamshedpur. Post independence, the steel for the projects announced under the newly devised Five-Year Plans came from the Tata factories. It supplied steel to build the Howrah Bridge in Kolkata, the Bhakra-Nangal Project and the Damodar Valley Corporation, the port at Kandla and the city of Chandigarh among others.

1908: BANK OF BARODA Bank of Baroda was founded by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda, supported by several eminent personalities. The bank was nationalized in 1969. It opened its first international branches in 1953. The bank went public in 1996.

1909: SWAN ENERGY LTD

Swan Energy was incorporated in 1909 as Swan Mills Ltd, making and marketing textile products.

Today, it is owned by the Dave and Merchant families, who took over from the J.P. Goenka Group in 1992. It entered real estate in 2004 and green energy in 2008.

1910: IMPERIAL TOBACCO CO. LTD

Now known as ITC Ltd, the company had humble beginnings with a leased office on Radha Bazar Lane, Kolkata. The first six decades were devoted to its cigarettes and leaf tobacco businesses. The packaging and printing business was set up in 1925. ITC now operates in hotels, paperboards, agri-business, stationery, lifestyle retailing, information technology and fast-moving consumer goods.

1911: TVS

The company was founded in 1911 by T.V. Sundaram lyengar, a fleet operator. Today, the TVS Group spans across automobiles, aviation, education, electronics, energy, finance, housing, insurance, investment, logistics and textiles. It has more than 90 firms under the umbrella, the largest of which is the TVS Motor Co.

1911: CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA

Founded on 21 December 1911 by Parsi banker Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala, Central Bank claims to have been the first commercial Indian bank completely owned and managed by Indians. It was instrumental in the creation of the first Indian exchange bank, the Central Exchange Bank of India, which opened in London in 1936.

1915: TATA HYDROELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY CO.

India’s largest integrated power utility, Tata Power Co. was founded in 1915 as Tata Hydroelectric Power Supply Co. It established India’s first large hydroelectric project in Khopoli, Maharashtra, in 1915. In 2013, it commissioned the country’s first 4,000 megawatts ultra mega power project at Mundra, Gujarat.

1919: BIRLA CORP. LTD

Incorporated as the Birla Jute Manufacturing Co. Ltd in 1919, Birla Corp. is the flagship company of the M.P. Birla Group. Under its first chairman Madhav Prasad Birla, it diversified into cement, vinyl flooring and auto trims. Under the chairmanship of his wife, Priyamvada Birla, it crossed the Rs1,300 crore turnover mark and the name was changed to Birla Corp. in 1998.

1919: KESORAM COTTON MILLS LTD

Kesoram Industries was founded in 1919 as Kesoram Cotton Mills Ltd in Kolkata. It entered rayon production in 1959 and was called Kesoram Rayon. The company soon entered the tyres and cement businesses under the names Birla Tyres and Birla Shakti Cement, respectively. In 1986, it changed its name to Kesoram Industries.

1920: KANSAI NEROLAC PAINTS LTD

Three British firms merged to form the Goodlass and Lead Industries Group Ltd. After many takeovers and changes in nomenclature, the company was called Goodlass Nerolac Paints Pvt. Ltd and went public in 1968. In 2000, it was acquired by Kansai Paint Co. of Japan.

1921: INGERSOLL-RAND (INDIA) LTD

In one of the first American investments in India, Ingersoll Rand India Pvt. Ltd was founded in Kolkata in 1921. It established its first manufacturing plant in Naroda, Ahmedabad, in 1965 and went public in 1977. It now specializes in industrial technology, and climate and residential solutions.

1923: HADFIELD’S (INDIA) LTD

Starting out as Hadfield’s (India) in 1923, Berger Paints India Ltd had just one factory in Howrah, West Bengal. In 1947, Hadfield’s (India) was acquired by British Paints (Holdings) Ltd and came to be known as British Paints (India) Ltd. In 1983, it was renamed Berger Paints India.

1924: GLAXOSMITHKLINE PHARMACEUTICALS LTD

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals was founded on 13 November 1924 in India as H.J. Foster and Co. Ltd as an agency house to distribute baby food. In 1950, it changed its name to Glaxo Laboratories (India) Ltd and registered itself as a limited company in 1968. In 2001, it merged with SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals (India) Ltd to form GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals.

1924: BALMER LAWRIE AND CO. LTD

Founded by two Scotsmen, Stephen George Balmer and Alexander Lawrie, in Kolkata Balmer Lawrie and Co. started as a partnership firm on 1 February 1867. Today, Balmer Lawrie is a miniratna-I public sector enterprise with a presence in manufacturing (steel barrels, industrial greases and specialty lubricants) and services (corporate travel and logistics services).

1924: KARNATAKA BANK

Karnataka Bank was incorporated on 18 February 1924 at Mangalore in Karnataka. Later, it merged with Sringeri Sharada Bank Ltd, Chitradurga Bank Ltd and Bank of Karnataka. In 2000, the bank signed an MoU with Infosys Technologies Ltd (now Infosys) to develop the core-banking solution, Finacle.

1925: RAYMOND LTD

In 1925, the Raymond Group set up its first woollen mill in Thane, Maharashtra. In 1958, the first exclusive Raymond retail showroom was opened in Mumbai. 10 years later, Raymond opened its ready-made garments plant at Thane. Today, it is the leader in the ready-made garments sector in India, with a turnover of Rs200 crore.

1925: CANARA INDUSTRIAL AND BANKING SYNDICATE LTD

Established in 1925, Syndicate Bank was first called Canara Industrial and Banking Syndicate. The primary objective was to assist local weavers. In 1967, the bank launched an agri card for farmers, a first of its kind. In 1975, it sponsored the first regional rural bank in India.

1926: HINDUSTAN CONSTRUCTION CO. LTD

Registered on 27 January 1926, Hindustan Construction Company built its first dam and bridge only in 1954, the Vaitarna Dam (Mumbai) and the railway bridge across the Torsa river (Assam). Other works include the Farakka Barrage in West Bengal and Idukki dam in Kerala.

1926: LAKSHMI VILAS BANK LTD

Lakshmi Vilas Bank was founded and incorporated in 1926 by seven businessmen of Karur district in Tamil Nadu. On 11 August 1958, it became a scheduled commercial bank.

1929: SOUTH INDIAN BANK LTD

The South Indian Bank was founded by 44 men of Thrissur in Kerala who contributed Rs500 each as capital. It has the third largest branch network among private sector banks in India, and was the first private sector bank to open a currency chest on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India in April 1992.

1930: VAZIR SULTAN TOBACCO CO. LTD

Incorporated in 1930, Vazir Sultan Tobacco Industries is India’s third-largest cigarette maker. It makes cigarettes under the brand names Charms, Charminar, Gold, Moments and Zaffran, among others. Its name was later changed to VST Industries Ltd on 30 April 1983.

1931: ARVIND LTD

In 1931, the Lalbhai brothers—Kasturbhai, Narottambhai and Chimanbhai—set up a mill to produce indigenous fabrics. By 1991, the company reached the production mark of 1600 million metres of denim per year and was the world’s third-largest denim maker.

1931: BATA INDIA LTD

Incorporated as Bata Shoe Co. Pvt. Ltd in 1931, it was set up as a small operation in Konnagar near Kolkata. In January 1934, the foundation stone for the first building of Bata’s operation was laid. Today, it is the largest retailer and leading manufacturer of footwear in India.

1931: HINDUSTHAN SUGAR MILLS LTD

Founded as Hindusthan Sugar Mills Ltd, Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Ltd was started by Jamnalal Bajaj. Its first plant was set up at Golagokarannath, Terai, Uttar Pradesh in 1932. It was renamed Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Ltd in 1988. During the drought in 2002, the firm’s unit was the first to crush 20 million quintals of cane.

1931: TRAVANCORE FEDERAL BANK

Initially known as Travancore Federal Bank, Federal Bank Ltd was founded by K.P. Hormis in 1931. In 1970, it became a scheduled commercial bank and it went public in 1994. In August 2013, it introduced FedBook, the first electronic passbook launched by a bank in India.

1931: VIJAYA BANK

Vijaya Bank was founded on 23 October 1931 by A.B. Shetty, an entrepreneur-politician, along with some farmers in Mangalore, Karnataka. The aim was to promote banking, thrift and entrepreneurship among farmers. It became a scheduled bank in 1958 and was nationalized on 15 April 1980.

1931: HINDUSTAN VANASPATI MANUFACTURING CO.

Unilever’s Indian subsidiary Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Co., founded in 1931, merged with Lever Brothers India Ltd and United Traders Ltd to form Hindustan Lever Ltd in November 1956. Now known as Hindustan Unilever Ltd, it is India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods firm through various acquisitions, including those of Brooke Bond and Co. India Ltd and Pond’s (India) Ltd.

1933: ISGEC HEAVY ENGINEERING LTD

The establishment of Saraswati Sugar Syndicate Ltd, a subsidiary, marks the beginning of the Indian Sugar and General Engineering Corp. (IGSEC). The engineering division was established in 1946. In 1981, it acquired Uttar Pradesh.

1934: EVEREADY INDUSTRIES INDIA LTD

Although Eveready products were marketed in India from 1905, Eveready Industries India was incorporated in 1934 and soon became a leader in the dry cells and flashlight segment. In 1940, Camperdown Works, the first modern battery plant in India was opened at Cossipore in Kolkata. It is the world’s third largest producer of carbon zinc batteries.

1935: CIPLA LTD

Cipla founder Dr K.A. Hamied gave the company the title the Chemical, Industrial and Pharmaceutical Laboratories in 1935 in Mumbai. Later, it became a global icon for defying Big Pharma to provide generic AIDS medication and other drugs. In 1970, it successfully lobbied to change India’s patent laws. Currently, the company is present in 100 countries.

1936: ASSOCIATED CEMENT COS LTD

ACC Ltd, formerly the Associated Cement Cos Ltd, was established by merging 10 cement firms. Its first board of directors had some prominent names: J.R.D. Tata, Ambalal Sarabhai, Walchand Hirachand, Dharamsey Khatau and Homy Mody, among others. In 1947, the firm established India’s first indigenous cement plant in Bihar.

1936: GODFREY PHILLIPS INDIA LTD

Godfrey Phillips India is one of the country’s largest cigarette makers with brands such as Four Square, Red & White, Cavanders and Hawk Eye. Under a licence agreement with Philip Morris of the US, the company also makes and markets Marlboro cigarettes in India.

1937: COLGATE-PALMOLIVE (INDIA) LTD

Colgate Palmolive introduced dental cream to Indians. In 1949, Colgate launched its classic tooth powder and toothbrush and in 1967, manufacturing operations began at Sewri, Maharashtra. In 1978, the firm went public.

1937: CROMPTON PARKINSON WORKS LTD

In 1937, Crompton Parkinson Ltd founded its wholly-owned Indian unit Crompton Parkinson Works Ltd (CPWL) in Mumbai. Ten years later, it was acquired by L.K. Thapar. In 1966, CPWL and its sales wing merged to create Crompton Greaves Ltd. After the acquisition of Belgium-based Pauwels Trafo/Pauwels Group in May 2005, Crompton Greaves became one of the world’s top 10 electrical transformer makers. Now it is known as CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd.

1937: TATA INVESTMENT CORP. LTD

Tata Investment Corp. (TICL) was promoted by Tata Sons Ltd in 1937. The company was closely held till 1959, when it became one of the few publicly held investment firms listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. TICL aided the formation of many firms such as Associated Bearing Co. Ltd (now SKF Bearings (India) Ltd), Ceat Tyres Ltd (now Ceat Ltd), the National Rayon Corp. Ltd, etc.

1937: INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK

In 1937, T.M.C.M. Chidambaram Chettiar, an Indian industrialist, founded the Indian Overseas Bank. It opened branches in Myanmar, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore within four-five years of establishment. Following nationalization in India in 1969, the bank was forced to look inward and open more rural branches. In 2000, it went public.

1938: BAJAJ ELECTRICALS LTD

Bajaj Electricals was incorporated as Radio Lamp Works Ltd. In 1993, the company entered into a joint venture with Black and Decker Corp. of the US for making power tools and household appliances, but sold its stake in 2012. In November 2002, it tied up with Morphy Richards of the UK for sales and marketing of electrical appliances under their brand name in India.

1938: JK LAKSHMI CEMENT LTD

JK Lakshmi Cement was set up in 1938 in a village in Sirohi district of Rajasthan. The cement made by the company has been used in structures such as the Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojna, the Sardar Sarovar Project, the Golden Quadrilateral, and the Mundra and Kandla ports.

1938: DENA BANK

Dena Bank was founded on 26 May 1938 by the family of Devkaran Nanjee, an Indian financier more popularly known as C.D. Desai. It was nationalized in 1969. In 1995, it was one of the six public sector banks chosen by the World Bank to sanction a loan of Rs72.3 crore for augmentation of Tier-II capital under the Financial Sector Developmental project.

1938: JAMMU AND KASHMIR (J&K) BANK LTD

Founded on 1 October 1938 under letters patent issued by the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, J&K Bank was established as a semi-state bank with participation in capital by the state and the public under the control of state government. In 1971, it acquired the status of a scheduled bank and was declared a Class A bank by the Reserve Bank of India in 1976.

1939: TATA CHEMICALS LTD

Incorporated on 23 January 1939, Tata Chemicals completed its first chemical works unit—a bromide plant—in 1942. Forty years later, in 1983, India’s first iodized and vacuum-evaporated salt, Tata Salt, was launched. In 1994, a fertilizer plant at Babrala in Uttar Pradesh was completed. In 2008, the company became the world’s second-largest soda ash manufacturer after acquiring US-based General Chemical Industrial Products.

1940: FAIRDEAL CORP. (PVT.) LTD

Anand Chandavarkar founded Fairdeal Corp. as a partnership firm and incorporated it as a private limited firm in 1940. In 1949, the first manufacturing unit was set up for manufacturing indigenous formulations and absorbent cotton wool. In 1972, the firm entered into oral rehydration salts with Electral, now a household name. In 1986 it was renamed FDC Ltd.

1943: BASF INDIA LTD

Though BASF’s first sales figures for India were reported in 1890, it was incorporated only in 1943. The company was involved in the production of textiles at inception but diversified into thermocol and plastics in the 1960s, and into dyes and dispersions in the 1990s. It was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in 1968 and on the National Stock Exchange in 1995.

1943: TATA COFFEE

In 1943, the entity was incorporated and headquartered in Pollibetta, Karnataka. The parent Edinburgh Co. relinquished its controlling interest in the 1960s and Tata Tea Ltd acquired a controlling interest in 1991-92. In September 1999, Asian Coffee Ltd, Veerarajendra Estates Ltd and Charagni Ltd merged with the firm to form the single largest integrated plantation company in the world. In 2000, it was renamed Tata Coffee.

1943: ORIENTAL BANK OF COMMERCE

Rai Bahadur Lala Sohan Lal, the first chairman of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), founded it in 1943 in Lahore. During partition, the lender shut its branches in Pakistan and shifted to Amritsar. The bank was nationalized on 15 April 1980. At present, OBC is implementing a Grameen Project—based on the Bangladesh Grameen Bank model—in some districts of Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.

1943: UNITED COMMERCIAL BANK

G.D. Birla, the renowned Indian industrialist, founded the United Commercial Bank after the Quit India movement in 1942. As of December 2012, the government held 65% of the bank’s shares after nationalizing it on 19 July 1969. In 1985, it was renamed UCO Bank.

1943: RATNAKAR BANK LTD

In August 1943, Ratnakar Bank (now known as RBL Bank Ltd) was incorporated as a regional bank in Maharashtra. In August 1959, it was categorized as a scheduled commercial bank. It was listed on the Bombay and National stock exchanges in 2016. It has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a “Global Growth Company".

1944: ESCORTS (AGENTS) LTD

Escorts (Agents) was incorporated in 1944. The firm became the largest producer of piston assemblies in India after a collaboration with Mahle of Germany in 1959.It was renamed Escorts Ltd in 1960. Ten years later, a joint venture was formed with the Ford Motor Co. to manufacture Ford tractors in India. In 1984, an agreement was signed with Yamaha to make motorcycles.

1944: BAJAJ HOLDINGS AND INVESTMENT LTD

Bajaj Holdings and Investment or BHIL (erstwhile Bajaj Auto Ltd) was demerged in 2007 as per a Bombay high court order, whereby its manufacturing unit was transferred to the new Bajaj Auto, and its wind farm and financial services businesses were vested with Bajaj Finserv Ltd. After the demerger, BHIL holds over 30% share each in both firms.

1945: ASIAN PAINTS LTD

Set up in February 1942 in Mumbai, Asian Paints was born out of an opportunity after a temporary ban on paint imports left only foreign firms and Shalimar Paints as competitors. By 1967, it was the leading paints maker in India. In 1954, Gattu, created by cartoonist R.K. Laxman as a mischievous boy holding a paint bucket, was launched as its mascot.

1945: MAHINDRA AND MOHAMMED

Brothers J.C. and K.C. Mahindra, along with Malik Ghulam Mohammed, set up Mahindra and Mohammed in 1945 as a steel trading firm. When Mohammed emigrated to Pakistan to serve as the country’s first finance minister, it was renamed Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. Later, it began to assemble Willys Jeeps in India and it ventured into light commercial vehicles, agricultural tractors and two-wheelers.

1945: TATA ENGINEERING AND LOCOMOTIVE CO. LTD

Tata Motors, formerly Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co., was founded in 1945. It built its first commercial vehicle in 1954 in collaboration with Germany’s Daimler-Benz AG and entered the passenger vehicle market in 1991 with Tata Sierra. In 1998, it launched the first indigenous Indian passenger car, the Indica. In 2004, it bought truck maker Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Co. and Jaguar Land Rover from Ford in 2008.

1945: WESTERN INDIA VEGETABLE PRODUCTS LTD

Wipro was incorporated as Western India Vegetable Products in 1945. The firm went public the next year; it ventured into information technology in 1981. A software products and exports unit, Wipro Systems Ltd, was formed two years later. Indigenous personal computers were developed first by Wipro in 1985 and a joint venture with General Electric Co. was formed in 1989.

At 70, India has come a long way from the country the British exited in 1947, and which they believed (and hoped) would not survive in its then form. India has since evolved into a vibrant constitutional democracy and made rapid strides in several domains (although there is a lot of work still to be done).

Over the next few days, to mark the 70th anniversary of India’s independence, Mint will profile 70 milestones across the years, and across domains—politics, business, entertainment and sport. Put together by Mint’s reporters and editors, these entirely subjective listings are far from comprehensive, as is only to be expected when one is dealing with the seven-decade-old post-independence history of a country as large and complex as India

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