Shapoorji Pallonji Group

ABOUT THE FOUNDER AND FOUNDING STORY

In 1865 Pallonji Mistry, who had moved from the home of his youth in Gujarat,^[2] and an English partner started a small construction firm in Mumbai, Littlewood Pallonji and Company. Their first project was the construction of pavements on the Girguam Chowpatty.^[3] The company went on to build a reservoir on Malabar Hill in 1881 that supplied water to the rapidly growing city’s residents.^[4] Their other early projects largely involved residential and public buildings across south Mumbai.^[5]

GROWTH PHASE

In 1936, the company acquired the well-established finance firm F.E. Dinshaw and Co. after the death of its owner. The Dinshaw firm financed loans from the Maharaja of Gwalior for Tata Steel (then TISCO) and had a 12.5% stake in the Tata Sons holding company. Through the decades, that share of Tata Sons has been the largest and most reliable sources of income for the Pallonji family.

Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, son of the founder, subsequently dropped out of school to take over the business. It continued to expand under his leadership and that of his son Pallonji Mistry (named for his grandfather), who would steer the company into taking on international construction projects along with his sons Shapoor Mistry and Cyrus Mistry.^[6] In the 1960s, Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry financed a critically acclaimed Bollywood film, Mughal-e-Azam. At the time, it was the most expensive Indian film ever made, a record it held for many years.^[7]

In 1975, the business undertook its first international project, the Qasr Al Alam palace in Oman, the ceremonial palace of Sultan Qaboos bin Said.^{[8] [9]} In 1988, Shapoor Mistry – fourth generation family member and great grandson of the founder – joined the company to serve as managing director.^[10] Three years later, his younger brother Cyrus joined as co-managing director and set about expanding their services from contracting to also encompass engineering and procurement. The firm took on complex projects such as the cable-stayed bridge on Goa’s Mapusa river^[11] and large-scale industrial projects in the marine, oil, gas, and rail sectors.^[12] Under Cyrus, the company also executed several national-record-breaking projects, including the construction of India’s tallest residential tower, longest rail bridge, and largest dry dock.^[13]

In 2006, Cyrus Mistry joined the board of Tata & sons. The family’s stake in Tata Sons acquired back in 1936 has grown to a current share of 18.37%.^[14] The Pallonji family holds direct stakes in Tata Consultancy Services worth about 130 million USD.^[15] In 2010, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co built the 64-story Imperial Tower, India’s tallest residential building. Its ventures include a chain of IT parks and a 150-acre low-cost housing development in Kolkata.^[16]  The company was headed by Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, son of Shapoorji Pallonji, until 2012, after which his son Shapoor Mistry took over as chairman.^[17]

In 2019, the fifth generation of the Mistry family stepped into corporate leadership roles. Pallon Mistry, son of Shapoor Mistry, chairman of Shapoorji Pallonji & Co, was brought onto the board of the group holding company, while his sister Tanya was tasked with handling group corporate social responsibility activities.^[18]

TODAY

The Shapoorji Pallonji Group operates across a variety of industries in addition to construction, including real estate, textiles, engineered goods, home appliances, shipping, publications, power, and biotechnology. At the turn of the century, the company took over Forbes Gokak (now Forbes and Company) from the Tata Group after securing it from Pawankumar Sanwarmal Group.^{[19] [20]} Shapoor, current chairman,^[21] who managed the real estate vertical and the group’s two new listed companies — Forbes & Company and Gokak Textiles — now also handles construction and infrastructure. Cyrus Mistry passed away in 2022 at the age of 54.^[22]