Top Ten Long Standing Indian Brands

India is home to millions of businesses and over the years some of these businesses evolved into some great brands.  Some of these brands are beloved by Indians of all ages while some brands have gone on to achieve greatness in the international arena and established India as a hotspot for technology and talent resources.  Let us take a look at ten Indian brands which have been around so long that they are household names.

Amul:

When you think of dairy products in India, Amul leads the race and is the face of Indian dairy products.  Amul was founded in 1946 as Kaira District Milk Union Limited and was later renamed to Amul which is a co-operative dairy society based out of Anand, in Gujarat.  Amul is responsible for the Indian White Revolution, which established India as the leading country in producing dairy and milk products.  Amul is easily recognisable by its mascot ‘Amul Girl’ which is a  hand drawn cartoon of a young Indian girl dressed in a polka dotted frock with blue hair and a half pony tied up.

Parle:

Millennials would recall fond memories of eating Parle-G biscuits in the evenings along with a hot cup of chai or coffee.  Parle was established in 1929 by the Chauhan family in Vile-Parle, Bombay during the British Raj rule.  The biscuit manufacturing began in 1939 and once India gained its independence, Parle began marketing its glucose biscuits as an alternative to the British biscuits.  Today, Parle-G is easily recognised by its white and yellow packaging and the image of a young girl.  The reason why Parle-G is so popular is because of its price tag which makes it affordable for all economic sections of the society.  Another well known Parle product is the Mango Flavoured Beverage, Frooti.

Haldirams:

Indians are known for their love for consuming snacks and the variety of products available in the supermarket shelves are a testimony to the love Indians have for their snacks.  However, Haldiram’s brand rules the roost as one of India’s favourite snack brands.  Haldiram’s was founded in 1941 at Bikaner, Rajasthan.  Haldiram’s has over 400 products and Its product range includes traditional namkeens, western snacks, Indian sweets, cookies, sherbets, papads and pickles.  Haldiram’s products are available in more than eighty countries worldwide and are hugely popular with the Indian diaspora.

Wipro:

Wipro was founded in 1945 by Mohamed Premji and used to stand for Western India Palm Refined Oil Limited.  Wipro was initially set up as a manufacturer of Vegetable and refined oils.  However, after the founder Mohamed Premji passed away, his son Azim Premji took over the reins and made the company into what it is today.  During the 1970s and 1980s, the company shifted its focus to new opportunities in the IT and computing industry.  Today, under the leadership of Azim Premji, Wipro diversified into personal care, health care, lighting, furniture, Digital strategy, IT services, Consulting and Outsourcing.

Aditya Birla Group:

The Aditya Birla Group is one of India’s oldest brands and was founded in 1857 by Seth Shiv Narayan Birla.  Adita Birla Group holds many of India’s famous brands like Pantaloons, Vodafone Idea, Aditya Birla Capital, Hindalco Industries and Ultratech Cement which is India’s leading cement producer.  Aditya Birla’s Portfolio includes Agribusiness, Carbon black, Cement, Chemicals, Finance, Mining Metals,  Retail, Pulp & Fibre, Telecommunications, Textile, Wind power.  

Tata Group: 

Tata Group is another of India’s oldest brands which was founded in 1868 by Jamsetji Tata.  Tata Group began as a trading company and has since then diversified into almost every major industry.  Some of the major brands and holdings in Tata Group portfolio include Tata Chemicals, Tata Communications, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Elxsi, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Steel, Voltas, Tata Cliq, Titan, Trent (Westside), Taj Hotels,Taj Air, TATA AutoComp systems Ltd, Vistara,Tanishq and Jaguar Land Rover.  

Reliance Industries:

Reliance Industries was established in 1973 by Dhirubhai Ambani and initially began as a textile trading company.  However under the leadership of Dhirubhai Ambani and his sons Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Reliance Industries is one of India’s largest conglomerates which has a diverse portfolio in multiple industrial sectors.  The major industries Reliance operates in are Petroleum, Natural gas, Petrochemicals, Textiles, Retail, Telecommunications, Media,  Entertainment, Music and Banking.

Infosys: 

Infosys was founded in 1981 by Narayan Murthy and his group of friends in Pune.  Infosys was one of the first Information Technology companies to begin in India and over the years has established itself as one of the leading IT companies in the country.  Today, Infosys is the second largest IT company in India after Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.)  Infosys had a total of 243,454 employees at the end of December 2019 and also owns the world’s largest corporate university located in Mysuru where employees are trained.

Mahindra Group: 

The name Mahindra is usually associated with Indian automobiles and to be more precise heavy automobiles like agricultural tractors.  Mahindra Group was established in 1945 at Ludhiana, Punjab by Jagdish Chandra Mahindra, Kailash Chandra Mahindra and Malik Ghulam Muhammad.  Following the Indian partition in 1947, Malik Ghulam Muhammad left for Pakistan where he became the first Finance Minister.  Today Mahindra Group has subsidiaries which are categorized into six main business units which are Automotive, Farm Equipment, Infrastructure, Trade and Financial Services, Information Technology and Automotive Components.

Bajaj Group: The name Bajaj is usually associated with two wheeler automobiles, finance and electronics.  However, Bajaj Group has a large number of holdings in various industrial sectors in India.  Bajaj Group was founded in 1926 by Jamnalal Bajaj and was headquartered in Mumbai.  Kamalnayan Bajaj, the eldest son of Jamanalal Bajaj,  expanded the business by branching into manufacture of scooter, three wheeler, cement, alloy casting and electricals.  Today, the Bajaj Group has holdings in Automobile, Financial, Services, Home Appliances, Electrical, Iron & Steel and Insurance.

Let us know if we have missed any such iconic long standing Indian brands and we would cover them in another article!