The Godrej Group was established in 1897 and has since grown into a US$1.875 billion conglomerate with a workforce of 18,000. Inseparable from daily life in India, the Godrej name has been built on a spirit of innovation that has made it one of the country's most remarkable industrial corporations.

The Godrej label has come to mean different things to different people across the length and breadth of India. Companies operating under the group umbrella are involved in a wide range of businesses -- from locks and safes to typewriters and word processors, from refrigerators and furniture to machine tools and process equipment, from engineering workstations to cosmetics and detergents, from edible oils and chemicals to agro products.

The corporation had its beginning in India's freedom struggle. Its founder, Ardeshir Godrej, was a staunch nationalist and believed that the country's economic degradation was even worse than its political subjugation, and that freedom could not be won unless it became self-reliant. Beginning with security equipment and soaps, the group diversified into a wide variety of consumer goods and services, all constructed on the strength of the Godrej brand.

In addition to building the corporation, each generation of the Godrej family has been deeply committed to worker welfare, human development and environmental matters. The Godrej garden township for workers in Mumbai is but one of several community initiatives that has won admiration at home and abroad. Every year the Pirojsha Godrej Foundation dedicates funds to promote education, housing, social causes, conservation, population management and relief in times of natural calamities.

The Godrej story is not limited to industrial excellence and enlightened concerns. It is also a human chronicle of determined men and women, gifted with vision and uncommon talents, who built a powerful and unique business.