Cyrus Mistry’s Legacy

Cyrus Mistry’s entrepreneurial legacy
25 Nov, 2011, 05.02AM IST,
Nauzer K Bharucha, TNN

Cyrus Mistry, the heir apparent of the Tata empire, has an entrepreneurial legacy going back to the turn of the last century.

The family’s beginnings were humble. His grandfather, Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry (born 1889), lived in a small lower middle-class Parsi house with 11 siblings at Khetwadi, Grant Road in south Bombay. He executed his first independent job of constructing the Girgaum Chowpatty pavement around 100 years ago.

Everyday, young Shapoor and his father Pallonji would walk to work from home to save the two-anna tram fare. “He made a profit of Rs 2,000 on the footpath contract within six months,’’ said Jamsheed Kanga , who was municipal commissioner of Mumbai in the mid-1980 s. The now-retired IAS officer dug into the Mistry family history some years ago and wrote an exhaustive chapter on Cyrus’s grandfather as part of a compilation, ‘Parsis of the 20th Century’ , edited by Nawaz B Mody.

Pallonji (Cyrus’s great grandfather) had started a small construction firm in partnership with an Englishman, Littlewood , called Littlewood Pallonji and Company. It was one of the firms involved in constructing the Malabar Hill reservoir. But Pallonji struggled to make ends meet and welcomed his son Shapoorji into the business.

After executing the Chowpatty foothpath construction project, young Shapoorji realised that this business could be profitable-earning Rs 2,000 in six months was what many graduates could not achieve and he could do so without being a matriculate. “With his smartness and intelligence he picked up the nuances of the trade very quickly and was of great assistance to his elderly father,’’ said Kanga.

Pallonji died in 1921. Shapoorji went on to form his own company, Shapoorji Pallonji Construction Pvt Ltd.

In the beginning, it undertook simple jobs for the military and the PWD, constructing barracks, small public buildings and municipal works. As his reputation grew, he procured bigger contracts like construction of a small military hospital as well as an ammunition factory in Bhopal and Kanpur, and a large hospital project in Sagar (now Madhya Pradesh).

“He also constructed a prisoner of war camp for Italian prisoners and training camps for American soldiers in general warfare as well as an anti-submarine building at Versova, the Royal Air Force camp at Worli and the Military Engineering mess at Colaba ,’’ said Kanga. By now Shapoorji had gained sufficient experience in the industry and ventured into taking contracts to build private houses.

Some of his earlier projects were residential buildings in Colaba like Persepolis , Heliopolis and Acropolis . The company also built bungalows for rich clients such as Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala and Sir Nowroji Saklatvala . One of its biggest projects then was the construction of Dhanraj Mahal near the Gateway of India. The building was commissioned by Raja Dhunrajgirji Narsingirji, a nawab of the former princely state of Hyderabad .

“The whole complex was requisitioned by the Indian navy during World War II. Even today it retains its old grandeur and the high quality of its construction enhanced SPCL’s reputation as a reliable contractor,’’ said Kanga.

Not many know that the Bombay Central train terminus was also build by SPCL at a cost of around Rs 1.6 crore.

The work was commended by the then governor of Bombay, Sir Fredrick Sykes, and The Times of India of December 18, 1930, reported: “From the engineering point of view, it is of supreme interest by reason of the fact that this collection of huge structures has been erected within 21 months of laying the foundation stone-… here there is beauty combined with utility, an impression of vast space of which none is wasted.’’

Other landmark buildings followed. The Reserve Bank of India, Bank of India and HSBC buildings at Fort and the new State Bank of India headquarters at Nariman Point. The Shanmukhananda hall at King’s Circle, NCPA auditoriums , and the Tata and Jamshed Bhabha theatres at Nariman Point were all built by the company. Said Kanga, “After reclamation of the area in south Bombay, the Cricket Club of India was established, and it was decided to build a stadium , pavilion, club house, swimming pool, etc. SPCL was awarded the contract. These structures were completed in record time. Since the club had some difficulty in raising resources for paying his dues, Shapoorji was even made a patron of the club.’’

“Fortunately, Shapoorji had a worthy son in Pallonji (Cyrus Mistry’s father and the current head of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group) whom he had groomed well and would be relied upon to continue and expand the work,’’ said Kanga. Pallonji expanded the business abroad, especially in the Gulf where he build the Sultan’s palace in Muscat in the early 1970s.

Shapoorji died in 1975 at the age of 87, but his son went on to execute large projects including the Sterling Apartments at Pedder Road, Dhirubhai Ambani’s residence Sea Wind at Cuffe Parade and the World Trade Centre (Cuffe Parade). “Like his father, Pallonji is a very private person and does not believe in publicity . Though highly respected in business circles, he shuns limelight, preferring a quiet life with his family including his two sons, Shapur and Cyrus ,’’ said Kanga.

Tata eager to retire Ratan Tata, who recently started a Twitter account, tweeted on Thursday, “I look forward to my retirement while I am still active and pursue many interests that I enjoy but have not had time to undertake. I am very pleased and committed to achieve a smooth and seamless transition to my successor. Finding a worthwhile successor has been an important milestone and this milestone was achieved yesterday. I have been with the Tata Group since 1962. The years have been exciting and interesting.”

Family Tree Cyrus’s father Pallonji Mistry married Irish-born Patsy Perin. Patsy is the sister of shipping magnate Adi Dubash. Her sister Maki married Pallonji’s first cousin, Kersasp. Katy Mehta, wife of former Tata director Freddy Mehta, is Pallonji’s first cousin.

Source: Parsi Junction

Image source: Google.com