How Pawan Ruia transformed tyre and heavy equipment industry almost single-handedly

There are certain industries in India, wherein not only major, but small players also need out-of-the-box thinking and business acumen to flourish. Both tyre industry and heavy equipment industry fall under the same category.

The future of these industries was dependent on foreign players in the country, before Pawan Ruia changed the entire sector with his far-sightedness. The chairman of Ruia Group, Pawan Ruia has been setting up such examples since the day he started working. With his foray into the business arena being as recent as 1995, Ruia has been making headlines for his entrepreneurial mindset.

The man who began with a charted accountancy firm initially, went on to opening Ruia Cotex, a textile manufacturing company, which was an Rs 10-cr project. After the establishment of his first company. In just 2 years, the Ruia Group MD set up Kamplapur Sugar Industries, a project worth Rs 80-crore.

Soon Pawan Ruia made a bold move when he acquired Jessop and Company. A 220-year-old engineering company, which was at that time facing a downfall, was turned around into a profitable organization by the mastermind. From negative balance sheets, Jessop had a net profit of Rs 100 million in 2 years. The example set by Ruia silenced all those who thought of the acquisition to be a bad move.

Pawan Ruia’s journey took major turns and his success march led him to taking over two of the biggest names in the tyre industry. Dunlop Tyres and Falcon Tyres, which were once high-grossing companies, were at their lowest. After the acquisition by Ruia Group, gradual changes started happening in both the companies.  

All the 4,000 employees that Dunlop had were re-employed, the labour was secured, the legal glitches were resolved and the production began. Today, both these organizations are testament to the determination and hard work of Pawan Ruia. What many people were skeptical about a few years back, was turned into a profitable business by the man who had the courage to rebuild these falling tyre manufacturers.