The group began, as you all know
125 years ago.
It started with our illustrious founder
We couldn't have had anyone sounder.
Now Mahatma Gandhi was a friend.
And self-rule then, the future trend.
Ardeshir once just pointed out
That he still had a serious doubt
That profound economic dependence
Might preclude our independence.
A point the Mahatma then conceded
But rather promptly he proceeded
To turn the tables on his friend
And asked him to work to that end.
And so, he started up his venture
Which proved to be some adventure.
Ardeshir’s focus was invention
His single-minded intention
Was proving that he could do it.
He could succeed and he knew it.
For Indian goods could be the best
Surpass the British by every test.
He scorned the thought of protection.
And chose to prevail by perfection.
And that, he knew he could achieve.
His customers could all perceive
His products were the very best
And constantly put to the test.
To greater heights he would aspire
His safes survived ordeal by fire.
Once, in the harbour, a ship exploded.
Though outer walls of safes eroded,
The inner contents were all intact.
And even when thieves attacked
They could barely pit and dent,
Sometimes, the plates were slightly bent.
But the safes would never break
And so, the thieves could never take
Any goods his safes had secured.
For years and years his fame endured.
There was no limit to his scope.
He worked as hard in tackling soap.
For many years he tried his hand
Until he could well understand
The ins and outs of making soap.
To vegetarians he gave hope.
The other makers were all callow
And made their soaps from lard and tallow,
Not prime but rendered in the street
With the stink of rotten meat.
But thanks to his determined toil
Fine soap could now be made from oil.
Ardeshir was an inventor-seer
Quite confident, free from fear.
Pirojsha was the one who built
An institution that would not tilt,
Standing straight and standing tall
Answering a higher call.
Both brothers helped build the nation
On the back of innovation.
All this transpired long ago
At first the growth was rather slow
But the group still succeeded
In bringing products that were needed.
The second generation did its bit
There was a managerial split
In engineering Naval held sway
In soaps Burjor led the way.
And Sohrab was the public face
And many causes he led with grace.
My brother Adi joined in '63
And from that point one could see
The influence of MBAs.
The advent of professional ways.
The economy gave us little scope
With the license Raj there was no hope.
The growth was slow but rather steady
And in a sense, we were quite ready
For the coming liberalisation.
This was a time of preparation.
Consumer goods were less protected
We weren't so badly affected
When competition levels rose
For we had enjoyed a healthy dose
Of competition with Unilever
Which made us a firm believer
In fighting costs to compete.
Yet could we bear the increased heat?
To hedge our bets, we formed JVs
With partners from overseas
But not the kind that last till death.
We learnt a lot and held our breath.
And as our partners went their way
We bought them out, again held sway.
The portfolio looks diversified
But much of what we have tried
Was something that we slipped into.
For animal feed this proved quite true.
For compound feed there seemed no need.
Then Buhler sought out L & T
Together they had tried to see,
If any market might exist.
There were no takers on their list.
Thus, forced to make a clean swipe
They were then left with a prototype.
A discount customer was sought
And Adi was the one who bought.
Serendipity and not a vision
Helped us start the feed division.
My father hated LAB.
Even then he could clearly see
The need for products truly green.
And so we made natural AO
The concept, though, was a no go
But Fatty Alcohol came in our fold
This precursor was pure gold.
Import duties then were high
And palm oil duty scraped the sky.
We quickly seized the opportunity
Of introducing the Oil Palm tree.
And at that time the DBT
Served as the nodal agency
Though Godrej was the biggest player
Then everyone was a naysayer
But after the commodity boom
This business did begin to zoom.
With the government’s latest policy
Rapid growth is what we’ll see.
In the North East it will now spread
And India can pull ahead.
In Oil Palm too let’s hope one day
We go the Atmanirbhar way
My father was an engineer
And like his uncle a pioneer.
He never chose the beaten path
Studied far from home and hearth.
And not the normal US, UK
He boldly chose the German way.
For years everything was fine
But then of course came '39.
The signs of war were in the air
The British Consul told Indians there
That it was time for them to go.
My father had no way to know
That he would have a longish break.
In fact ten years it would take
For him to get his PhD.
But during those long years you see
My father chose not to be placid
But made good soap from fatty acid,
The topic that he had selected
And thus his thesis was perfected.
But thanks to this twist in the plot
Godrej Soaps gained quite a lot.
In fact we went beyond just soap
Now chemicals were in our scope.
With food quite short there was no hope
Of edible oils being used for soap.
This breakthrough proved to be astute
And thanks to this novel route
Inedible oils were used for soap,
Thus giving industry new hope.
Between food and soap we were torn
Solvent Extraction was then born.
And Godrej also played a part
With groundnut first we made a start
Rice bran then was added soon
And this turned out to be a boon.
I learnt all this at my father's knee.
First languages and geography
Then dollops of oil chemistry.
I accept this blessing gratefully.
And equal guidance came from Adi
And though by now he's my best buddy,
Back then he was a father figure.
And trained me with the greatest rigour.
But it was Adi who laid the seed
That permitted us to succeed.
Is Adi’s success because of skill,
Or is it more his iron will?
For Adi was always organised
And punctuality was prized.
By dusk his desk was very neat,
His paperwork was all complete.
Not agonising is the trick,
Decisions must be very quick.
Adi can’t stand the status quo
All novel things he wants to know.
And if he thinks that it is right
He puts in all his will and might
Behind the new initiative
And with support that he can give
We quickly learn the latest ways,
Make sure the group sees better days.
He advised me on my education
Then recalled me back to our nation
As my studies went on and on.
For six long years I had gone.
All these years, I had been shirking
But Adi had been busy working.
Boldly he had taken charge
Not just business but affairs at large.
He led associations one by one
And started anew as one was done.
But let's move on from Adi's glory
And return now to my own story.
In the waning days of the emergency
He called me with great urgency
"Back here," he said, "things are scary
And look like getting much more hairy.
I need you here right by my side."
I of course swelled with pride
An academic life was spurned
The perpetual student then returned.
And very early I took the lead
In the nascent business of making feed
In good time we could make it grow.
And many of you may not know
The way we stumbled into feed.
For compound feed there was no need.
Then Bühler sought out L & T
Together they had tried to see
If a market might exist
There were no takers on their list.
They chose to make a clean swipe
But they were left with a prototype
A discount customer was sought
And Godrej were the ones who bought.
Serendipity and not a vision.
Thus gave birth to this division.
And this very small beginning
Ultimately would bring
The Agribusiness we now see
Based on Chemistry and Biology.
In India oils were very short
Different minor oils were sought
Their odours were very strong
For our fine soaps they were wrong.
We found a way to deodorise.
At first of course we didn’t prize
The odour cut we thought was waste
But later on we made haste
To try and turn our waste to gold
Our R&D was very bold.
Agrochemicals were made
And then we entered in this trade.
Many products proved to be stars
We made novel PGRs
NCL’s research was applied
To make Homobrassinolide.
In Brassica it can be found.
Alas! There isn’t much around.
So it had to be synthesised
And steadily we optimised.
We ventured into herbicides.
Much later into fungicides
When Astec came into our fold.
Many more products will be sold
As new platforms we will enter
Through our new R & D Centre.
In India milk yields are very low.
This adds to costs, as we all know.
More cows are grown, more feed is fed.
You also need a bigger shed.
And all this leads to higher cost
But something else is also lost.
The consequences are very dire
As carbon emissions are also higher.
There is a tool that we can wield
And that of course is higher yield.
Now normal breeding's very slow.
There is a faster way, we know.
We asked ourselves what could then be
The cutting edge technology.
In agriculture Israel leads
And IVF met our needs.
Now cross-breeds are a compromise
And that approach once seemed wise.
The compromise that one would see
Was between yield and immunity.
Human nature is always loath
To give up something as we want both!
Of course we want the highest yield
And Indian immunity in the field.
The best yield from both sperm and egg
While immunity stands on another leg!
Not from parents but something other
The placenta of the surrogate mother!
As a Chemical Engineer
To me it is indeed quite clear
The cow’s a natural factory.
Different stomachs is what we see.
The Rumen is a bioreactor
It serves as a useful factor
In converting grass to food.
This reactor can be optimised
Good savings can be realised.
Now in the Rumen I’m afraid
Good nutrients do degrade.
But if they are chemically treated,
Encapsulated or heated.
The game can be better played,
They enter the milk and don’t degrade!
Now NGCARD our research station
Is a fountain head of innovation.
With steady progress in newer feed
And Maxximilk's superior breed,
We are now sure we can succeed
In providing protein, our dire need
Much more efficiently, sustainably
And consequently affordably.
On my father's hunch we had invested
In something strange and so untested
As making Olefins from oil.
It hardly seemed worth all that toil.
But Alcohol was an intermediate
Not Ethyl which gives an immediate
Kick to all who do imbibe it.
And for this audience I’d describe it
As chain length 12 to 18.
And now this change in tack would mean
A change in all our strategy.
And it was largely up to me
To clean up the entire mess
And it was tough I must confess.
But when you have the perfect teams
The impossible also seems
Like a stroll in the park
Though sometimes strolling in the dark!
The group was there with all its strengths.
To help us out they went great lengths.
A merger helped to save our skin.
You must survive before you win.
We lived to fight another day.
Step by step we found the way.
We had to work to make things right.
On every front we had to fight.
Now we had suffered for our sins
But since we stopped the olefins
We had two columns that were idle
Not using them was suicidal.
Configuring them for fractionation
We used them for the preparation
Of much desired single cuts.
And when we settle into ruts
Such innovation gets us out.
And I have not the slightest doubt,
Our engineers helped save the day,
The continuous improvement way.
With the help of all of them,
We started of with TQM.
We learnt a lot of useful stuff
But all of that was not enough.
We learnt to stretch capacity
With bellicose rapacity.
We focused on the bottlenecks
With grips that could well throttle necks.
And month by month the throughput rose
With just an occasional dose
Of investment in a plant that’s new.
We kept the number to just a few.
We built new plants for fractionation,
Restarted with our sulphonation.
By then we made no olefin.
And so we chose to bring it in.
Of course made petrochemically
By Chevron, Shell or BP.
The base we tolled for HLL.
The rest, to others, we could sell.
Now HLL served as the bread
The rest was a nutritious spread.
Our hydrogen was good and cheap
The benefit we could then reap
By using all that we could spare
To make some stearic acid there.
With Dr. Pandit’s help we tried
And made a plant, that is our pride.
At a low cost we then supplied
Good alcohol sans aldehyde.
Others’ know-how fees were high
We did not pay a single pie.
The cost of Indian plants is low
And this enables us to grow.
In order to increase our trade,
We quite specifically made
C16-18 cuts from Palm.
But this had some attendant harm.
For every time the feed was changed
The product streams were exchanged.
We had more fractionation cost
And more material was lost.
Our engineers then were the ones,
Who cut the cost with longer runs.
From time to time our plants were down
And this would cause us all to frown.
Now TPM was a solution
For us it was a revolution.
The plants were up more and more.
The costs were going to the floor.
Everywhere the throughput rose.
And we had a healthy dose
Of cutting costs everywhere.
With energy we took great care-
Whatever saving was suggested
We evaluated and invested.
From every one we always sought
Good learnings but the one who taught
Us best was Kokyo’s Mr.Kawai
Who’s always pushing us to try
To make our products some what better.
And then one day we got a letter
Complaining we were not consistent.
Although we were quite insistent
That we had exceeded norms.
He urged us to make reforms.
We had exceeded by too much.
And we learnt that there is such
A thing as being far too good.
Without him we never would
Have known that consistency
Is better than proficiency.
A constant 98.2 is fine
And better than a stray 99.
So nothing will help, better than
A good customer from Japan,
To keep you always on your toes
And teach you everything he knows.
And if you have enough endurance
You will have the assurance
Your quality is of the best
For having passed the greatest test.
With our experience in soaps
We had already learnt the ropes
Of processing most distillates
Available at attractive rates.
Competitors use processed oil.
Our R&D with skill and toil,
Although the task was rather tough,
Found ways to use the cheaper stuff.
All of this was very fine
And added to the bottom-line.
The catalyst was optimised.
The throughput was maximised
And per ton costs were minimised.
The profits were then super-sized.
Production wasn’t the only story,
Now marketing brought us some glory.
Flaked longer chains were our forte.
We found new markets for a sortie.
In China we could sell a lot.
We liked the margins that we got
In Argentina and Brazil.
Our coffers we could slowly fill.
We listened first and then we played,
Each time we made a different grade.
In wonderment you might well gape
There's an oilseed that is known as rape.
But all the same, it is a fact,
That rape that shocking, violent act
Has absolutely nothing to do
With the oilseed that good farmers grew.
In the genus Brassica one sees
Various species and varieties.
Different colours, similar shape
Whether called mustard or rape.
Brown or yellow, black or white
Rather dark or very light.
Though varied colours can be found,
These seeds are always small and round.
The difference though is no big deal
They all have similar oil and meal.
For chain lengths that are very long
Both these oils are very strong.
The Erucic content is rather high.
In the 70s Scientists did try
To test this acid's health effects
Their studies did show some defects.
Though we've used these oils for years
These studies kindled many fears.
Such studies though are hard to do.
Their conclusions might not be true.
The breeders though did succeed
In producing a LERSO breed.
One fact I would like to share
Some glucosinolates are there.
They are the special attribute
They are the ones that contribute
The spicy taste of Sarson Ka Saag
And Kohlu oil with extra zhaag.
We humans love that special zing.
For chickens it's a different thing.
Alas! They just can't tolerate
A lot of glucosinolate.
A plant breeder can be a hero
If he produces double zero.
An achievement that was truly great:
Zero Erucic and glucosinolate.
For the Oleochemical Industry
This wasn't what they'd like to see.
Erucic acid has its uses
And the Western industry now loses.
Now India has an advantage though
As HERSO's what we always grow.
HERSO is the kind we need
But LERSO is a different breed.
For our business this is dandy
HERSO comes in really handy.
Behenyl Alcohol can be made
For Erucic Acid we are well paid.
The C20 is a valuable chain
The C16 & 18 are again
Ideal for use in lubrication
Each adds to the valuation.
Now it should be understood
Tall Oil comes to us from wood
It’s not very sustainable
Nor is it cheap. But we are able
To replace Tall Oil with 16-18
Many benefits can be seen.
And now we can clearly see
That R&D will be the key.
Specialty chemicals is the way to go.
With R&D new products flow.
Developing new chemistry
And skilful use of biology
Will help us all to steadily grow.
New products will constantly flow.
Sophorolipids are in our fold.
To my mind this is pure gold.
A good surfactant at a low dose
With several benefits, heaven knows!
Both antimicrobial and a preservative.
For every problem that we face
A program should be put in place.
The populace should benefit
And business targets should be hit.
The Chemical Industry has steadily grown
And finally come into its own.
If we spend on research and do things right
Our future will be very bright.
