Laid back and rich

Still cushioned in old-fashioned business, the Marwari community in West Bengal is gradually coming of age

Rajat Roy Kolkata

Historically, economic activities in modern India were driven forward by certain communities that showed special expertise in trade and commerce. If the Tamils in South India made their presence felt in banking and related financial sectors, the Gujratis and Parsis in the western region consolidated their achievements in maritime trade and gradually shifted to manufacturing. In eastern India, the Marwaris came to play the leading role in trade and commerce. This community, which had settled in Calcutta at the advent of the East India Company, is the most prosperous business community in the region now.

Marwaris, who came from Rajasthan, initially made their forays into Calcutta after the battle of Plassey, when the victorious East India Company started expanding its trade. Around 1840, they started coming en masse. While import and export was in the hands of the British, the Marwaris took upon themselves the role of distributors. One senior executive of a big Marwari concern puts it in this way: “In today's business vocabulary the Marwaris looked after the supply line management of the British agency houses.” Speculation in the market is another part of trading, and Marwaris showed special acumen. Slowly, they were drawn into jute trade, especially trading in raw jute.

On the western coast, the Gujarati and Parsee communities were engaged in maritime trade before Europeans came to India. Around the time of World War I, the British decided to go for large-scale industrialisation in India, and the Parsis and Gujaratis switched to industry along with them. Textile mills were established in Ahmedabad and Bombay. Marwaris in Bengal, however, did not show much interest in industry, choosing to remain in the world of stock speculation and trading. The destiny of the two regions was determined from that time.

One senior executive (a Maharastrian) of a Marwari industry house once remarked on this saying: “The Bengalees and the Marathas have many a things in common. Both these communities produce skilled workers and professionals. They are interested in poetry, music, fine arts, drama and other art forms, but abhor the culture of money-making. But, while the Marathas are blessed with the presence of Parsis and Gujaratis, the Bengalees got the more conservative Marwaris.”

Sarcasm apart, historically, the Marwaris took to industry at a much later stage. One professional manager with a Marwari concern points out that around 1946, with the imminence of Independence, the British started selling off their industries. Overnight, a number of tea gardens, jute mills and engineering concerns changed hands and Marwaris became owner of a large number of British companies. One financial analyst explained that the Marwaris could buy those concerns because they could arrange for the payment or part of the payment was made overseas. With their long experience in trading and under-invoicing, they could easily mobilise the required surplus for making the payment in pound sterling.

Looking back, one may infer that perhaps their entry into industry was a reluctant affair. The first 50 years of Independence saw stagnation in those traditional and ageing industries and Marwari owners did nothing to change the course. Barring one car manufacturing unit in Hindmotor (of the Birlas), no major initiative was witnessed in the industrial sector. Even Hindmotor was constricted by old technology and at the first push from competition in the era of a liberalised economy, the company went sick.