The brand Dabur and Tata has been eminent from the times of forefathers and even now. Tatas and Birlas were symbol of richness for people. They have great dedication to things they aspire for. There are century old companies in India that has seen two world wars, great depression, the freedom struggle, Zamindari system, liberalization and globalization. They underwent all these periods and have created a benchmark for themselves. They have created a strong brand name for their product and have sustained it for years. Even now they come under most actively traded company.
Jessop and company
The company was founded in 1788 by a renowned British Engineer William Jessop. It was before called Breen & Company. It was started in Calcutta the company is now 223 years old. It is the grandpa of all companies in India. It was the first company to build the first iron bridge in India at Lucknow and the famous Howrah Bridge in west Bengal. It is the oldest engineering company in the east of Suez manufactures is now into third century operation and currently under a private sector management. They are into hardcore engineering and have structured industrial buildings, cranes, passenger coaches, wagons, diesel road rollers and so many. The greatest achievement of this company is to bring up the first steamed boats in Indian waters. Now the company is acquired by the Ruia group.
Britannia
This Company was started as a tiny concern in the year 1892 in Calcutta with a meager investment of 
295 by a Gupta family in westBengal. This is the first biscuit company in India to mechanize production and was the first to use steamed ovens for production in the east of Suez canals. They supplied biscuits to the army during the World War II which boosted up their revenue. The managing director of this 12, 400 crore Company is Vinita Bali.
Century textiles and industries
Century had been founded by Nowrosjee N. Wadia. He established a single manufacturing concern in the year 1897. Nowrosjee is the grandfather of Nusli Wadia the owner of Bombay dyeing. There was a great demand for cotton in the time of American civil war and that was the time when Wadia set up his mind to get into the serious manufacturing of cotton. After three decades it was overtaken by the rival Chunilal Mehta and from him R.D Birla acquired it. Birla traded in jute and many other commodities and obtained adequate number of shares to extort management control. He became the chairman of the company in the year 1951 and his brother Ghanshyam Birla and Basant Kumar Birla, the youngest son of G.D Birla joined hands with him. It is referred to as Babu by many and it is still B.K Birla at 90, the chairman of the company.
Calcutta Electricity Supply Corporation
CESC was recorded in London in the year 1987 with a capital of 1000 pound sterling. It was initiated for providing power to Calcutta. The capacity of the company in the start was 3 boilers of 500 horsepower each. This operation was a great hit giving new life to the city residents. The Europeans enjoyed dancing in ball rooms under electric fans. The hand fan went out of fashion and tramcars were used instead of horses. The consumers in 1912 were 6000 and at present it is 2.4 million people. CESC was controlled from London till early 1970s, later it became a rupee company and it was Chittajit Das Gupta who supervised the company. He joined CESC as a trainee engineer in mid 1950s and retired as a deputy managing director in the year 1999.
TVS
TVS was first established in Madurai. The company was founded by T.V Sundaram Iyengar. At those times it was not easy to sell the cars to the landlords in the southern Tamil Nadu as they were comfortable with horse carts. The company was started in the year 1911 but the business actually started in the year 1912. The rural transport service was a great challenge faced by him. He always made sure that buses travelled on time to the places. The heavy duty magnets were used beneath to reduce the delay. These magnets used to pick the nails and fragments of horse shoes to reduce the menace of delay due to punctures. Now it is a 4 billion company and is under the control of the TVS family.
Dabur
India’s largest Ayurvedic medicine manufacturer was setup in the year 1884. The founder S.K Burman was a physician by occupation. It was a very small concern as they lacked variety and just handful of people was employed. They strived hard to become successful for 100 years. It was from the year 1990 that it showed a drastic growth. They took advice from a consulting firm Mckinsey. Mckinsey advised Dabur not to still practice the old business style and Dabur took the advice wisely and has created fame for them in the Indian corporate history. It was a 40 Crore company and paid Mckinsey 10 Crore which sank the heart of Ashok C Burman, but now that advice made the company’s total assets worth 530 Crore.
ITC
The company was founded by BTA, a British MNC in the year 1910 in name of imperial tobacco. BTA owned great brands like Dunhill and Kent. It was considered as white company as they recruited workers from Cambridge universities. In the year 1969 Ajit Narain Haksar became the chairman and in 1974 the imperial was changed to India and was bluntly called ITC.
Godrej and Boyce
Godrej and Boyce was set up in the year 1897 by Ardeshir Godrej. In the year 1904 Pirojsha Godrej. Ardeshir took training in law but innovation of products was his inborn talent. He travelled overseas to improve his knowledge in business and its valuable insights. The Godrej safe has been the best for years. In the year 1944 the Bombay docks blasted off in which gold and ammunitions were stored. The safe was disfigured but stayed intact. This boosted up the name of the company. King George V and Queen Mary when visited Delhi durbar in the year 1911, stored their valuables in Godrej Safe.
Tata steel
It was Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata’s dream to establish a steel plant from the year 1802. In 1902, he travelled to Pittsburgh get help from American geologist and metallurgist Charles Page Perin. Then TISCO emerged in the year 1907 and this was after Jamsetji’s death. Now Tata is one of the largest company and also have their mines spread all over the world. The sixth largest steel makers’ current worth is $52.8 billion.
Kirloskar Brothers
Kirloskar was started in the year 1888 by Laxmanrao Kirloskar. In the start it was just a trading company. Now it is the India’s largest maker of pumps and valves and worth $1.4 billion. The current chairman of the company is Sanjay Kirloskar.
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