This one has almost gone into oblivion. But a rescuer walked in from nowhere to resurrect Kothari Industrial Corporation Ltd., a D C Kothari venture. Dr Rafiq Ahmed is the new owner, who bought out Pradip Kothari in KICL. Today, he is toiling hard to bring the yester-year glory back. He has gone on a fast lane to push KICL into areas such as non-leather footwear, drones, hotels, waste treatment and the like. Since his entry into KICL, the company has become debt-free, and its shares got relisted on the bourses. More importantly, he has managed to rope in a Qatar firm belonging to the Royal family to invest in the company. This investment comes as a huge trust vote for KICL.
Incidentally, KICL under Rafiq Ahmed has chosen to revive the over 57-year-old Industrial Economist, a monthly business magazine published from Chennai. The magazine was shut down after the demise of its founder, late S Viswanathan. For assorted resons, Industrial Economist could not be continued. The magazine is now run by KCIL, which has been licenced to bring it in both digital and print formats. For Rafiq Ahmed, Industrial Economist is an opportunity to contribute to the society. Organisations such as KICL and Industrial Economists are the consequence of hard work and extraordinary vision of their founders. Hard work never goes waste. Rather, it should not be allowed to go waste. At least, Rafiq Ahmed is convinved that they shouldn’t be. Well, both are today back and moving forward.
The picture around the Chennai industrial landscape is gratifying. Pleasanter still is the realisation that legacy names are back. To be sure, they have returned a lot invigorated.
