TIT for TAT to the EAST INDIA COMPANY

The East India Company That Ruled

Over Us For 100 Years Is Now

Owned By An Indian

The history of Indian Independence has come a full circle. It
is indeed a matter of pride that the East India Company that
ruled us for 100 years, is owned by an Indian today.
Mumbai-born entrepreneur Sanjiv Mehta bought major
stake in the company with a whopping $15 million in 2010,
and became the proud owner of the company.

Born in Mumbai in a family of diamond merchants, Sanjiv
managed to purchase the company from around 40 stake
holders in a process that was long-drawn and tedious. But
he did not give up, even after the acquisition. He said,
“When I took over, my objective was to understand its
history. I took a sabbatical from all other business and this
became the single purpose in my life.” He travelled
extensively studying the history and business of the
company, visited its trading posts and museums, studied
old records – basically, he did not leave room for error of
ignorance.

Speaking on the emotional and historic relevance of the
purchase, Mehta had said, “ Put yourself in my shoes for a
moment. On a rational plane, when I bought the company I saw
gold at the end of the rainbow. But, at an emotional level as
an Indian, when you think with your heart as I do, I had this
huge feeling of redemption — this indescribable feeling of
owning a company that once owned us.”

Under the leadership of Mehta, the brand aims at selling
luxury gift sets, teas, coffees, jams and other such goods
via an e-commerce website. Of course, this is not a purely
emotional purchase and Mehta means business. He
launched the brand and its flagship store on Independence
Day in the same year.

The East India Company, which was started in 1600, was
the first and biggest organization that dominated trade in
the 17 and early 18 century. Entering India in 1757, it
gained foothold on Indian land in no time. Crushing
indigenous traders and farmers, it soon established
monopoly over our country’s produce, and crippled
homegrown business.

From science & technology to business, Indians are ruling
the world today. Be it Sundar Pichai becoming the CEO of
Google, or Lakshmi Mittal being one of the richest men in
Britain, Indians have proved their talent and enterprise
everywhere. For a country that was oppressed by the British
for 200 years, that’s an awful lot to have achieved in so
less a time.



As they say, the power to change the course of history lies
in the hands of those who dream. And Sanjiv Mehta is yet
another Indian who has proved this true.