Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Private Limited (SPCPL), trading as Shapoorji Pallonji Group,[3] is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Its primary business interests include construction and engineering, infrastructure, real estate, energy, and textiles, among others.[4] The company was headed by a grandson of founder Pallonji Mistry, also named Pallonji Mistry, until 2012, when he announced his retirement and the succession of his son, Shapoor Mistry.[5][6]
Shapoorji Pallonji is regarded as "one of India's most valuable private enterprises".[7] The Shapoorji Pallonji Group has three listed companies–Afcons Infrastructure, Forbes & Company Ltd,[8] and Gokak Textiles.[9]
The company was founded as a partnership firm Littlewood Pallonji in 1865.[14][15][16] The first project was the construction of a pavement on the Girgaum Chowpatty,[17] followed by being part of the construction of a reservoir on Malabar Hill which supplied water to Mumbai for over 100 years. The company also built the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi.[14] The Mumbai Central Railway station, was also built by them at a cost of ₹1.6 crore. The company was commended for completing the work within 21 months.[17]
In 1936, Shapoorji Pallonji bought F.E. Dinshaw and Co. after the death of its promoter. F.E. Dinshaw was an established finance firm that had high-profile dealings such as arranging a loan from the Maharaja of Gwalior for Tata Steel (then TISCO) in 1924 and merging local cement companies to form ACC Cement in 1936.[18] F.E. Dinshaw and Co. also had a 12.5% stake in Tata Sons, which came to Shapoorji Pallonji.[12] Shapoorji Pallonji's stake in Tata Sons increased to 18.37% after the latter's rights issue in 1996.[19]
In 2001–02, Shapoorji Pallonji took over Forbes Gokak (now Forbes & Company Ltd) from the Tata Group after winning a takeover battle with the Pawankumar Sanwarmal Group.[20]
In 2012, Shapoor Mistry announced that the Group had plans to invest in a deep-sea port, an IT park, hydro electricity and construction of roads and night shelters for the poor in West Bengal.[22] In 2012, Shapoorji Pallonji Ports Pvt Ltd was planning to build Simar Port in Gujarat with SPV name Simar Port Private Limited.[23]
In January 2016, the Group launched its first affordable housing brand, Joyville Homes.[24]
Shapoorji Pallonji Group began a series of divestments to reduce its debt, starting with the initial public offering of Sterling & Wilson Solar in 2019.[25] In 2021–2022, Shapoorji Pallonji Group demerged Eureka Forbes from Forbes & Company Ltd and sold its entire stake in Eureka Forbes to Advent International.[26][27] By 2024, Shapoorji Pallonji's stake in Sterling & Wilson Solar had reduced to 6.95% from 65.77% in 2019.[28][29]
The Shapoorji Pallonji has also had a brief involvement with Bollywood. Released in 1960, K. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam was funded by the group with a budget of ₹ 1.5 crore, which made it the most expensive Bollywood film till then and a record it held for many years. More than four decades later, the group funded a digital remastering of the film at a budget of ₹5 crore, which was released on 12 November 2004. Shapoor Mistry, grandson of Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, thought it a fitting tribute to complete his grandfather's unfinished dream of colourising the film, especially as the original was produced by his grandfather.[12] In 2016, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, in association with the National Centre for the Performing Arts (India), co-produced Mughal-e-Azam, a Broadway-style musical directed by Feroz Abbas Khan, and based on the 1960 Bollywood film Mughal-e-Azam.[33]
^Markovits, Claude (2002). Indian Business and Nationalist Politics 1931-39: The Indigenous Capitalist Class and the Rise of the Congress Party. Cambridge University Press. p. 208. ISBN0521016827.
