At the time of India-Pakistan partition, many people had to migrate to India from the other side of the border. After setting foot here they were labelled as refugees and had to start their lives from scratch. Some of them survived on petty employments which some started their own business on a small scale while coping with the circumstances. After working tirelessly for years several of them have become influential entrepreneurs of our country.
Raunaq Singh was one such person who faced numerous challenges after the partition but never gave up. With his hard work and diligence, he built one of the landmark companies of India starting from zero. You will be surprised to know that today there are more than 9,000 people working in his company and around 20,000 people get indirect employment.
Raunaq Singh was the founder member of various famous brands in India like Apollo Tyres Limited, Bharat Gears Limited, Bharat Steel Tubes Limited, Raunaq International Limited, Menarini Raunaq Pharma Limited and Raunaq Motor under the banner of Raunaq Group. Born and brought up in Lahore, Pakistan, Raunaq was in the business of steel pipes. But after the partition of the country, he along with his family had to migrate to India empty-handed, leaving their home and business.
Raunaq was made to stay in a refugee camp with 13 other people in Delhi. He was able to afford only one paisa a day for meals.
He started working at a spice shop known as Munilal Bajaj & Company in Delhi to make his living. After some time, he sold his wife’s jewelry in Chandni Chowk Market in Delhi and got around Rs 8,000. He went to Kolkata with amount where he tried to launch his own business of spices but failed to make any impact. He then decided to start his old business which he knew well and set up Bharat Steel Pipes.
Initially, he faced a lot of difficulties, but in few months his business of Steel Pipes began to blossom. This initial success gave him the required boost to move ahead, and he never looked back since then. With time he developed a good hold on the market and the customer demand kept on increasing. Raunaq then decided to spread his business in other sectors.
“When the first steel plant of Bharat Pipes was established in Kolkata, its first deal was made was only for Rs 1,000. Although this was a small amount, our promising product series made us the favorite of customers and the market,” said Raunaq.
The success of steel pipes had allowed wide recognition to the company. To diversify the business in other areas, he started Apollo Tyres after getting the license to make tires from the Kerala government. This small-scale company was established in 1975 and is now one of the leading tire makers in India.
Raunaq Singh was a great supporter of economic liberalization and globalization because he believed that India can compete with the leading global countries only when we also have a big market and sophisticated technological support, which could be possible only through liberalization and globalization.
Raunaq Singh made tireless efforts in taking Indian industries to the world. His son, Onkar Singh, is currently the chairman of the Raunaq Group which has its annual turnover in several crores of rupees.
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