Essel Group, one of India’s largest business conglomerates, celebrated its 90th anniversary on 14 May 2017. The conglomerate started off as a commodity trading and export firm in 1926 and has today expanded its interests into media, entertainment, packaging, real estate, education, finance, oil explorations, among others, in its nine-decade-long journey.
“This journey of 90 years has been filled with remarkable successes as well as challenges and obstacles. It has been a journey of creating history, venturing into unknown territories, only to emerge as leaders, capitalizing on our pioneering vision and entrepreneurial spirit,” said Subhash Chandra, chairman of Essel Group and a Rajya Sabha member.
The event was attended by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Union ministers Smriti Irani and Narendra Singh Tomar, among others.
On the occasion, Chandra launched DSC Foundation with an aim to help budding entrepreneurs and educationists by not just providing them with funds but also creating a chain model. He contributed Rs 5,000 crore from his personal fortune, the ‘Sarthi’ initiative and the group’s English global news network WION – World Is One News.
President Mukherjee congratulated Essel Group on its completion of 90 years and appreciated the spirit of celebrations — ‘Young at 90’.
Modi described the programme as an illustration of Indian traditions. Appreciating the social initiatives of Essel Group, the prime minister said that the Swachh Bharat Mission provides opportunities for a large number of social entrepreneurs to emerge, while ‘Sarthi’ presented a good blend of rights and duties and the DSC Foundation would help build a large number of job creators.
