Ghanshyam Sarda
Turning Around Sick Industries...
Pioneering New Technologies

Mr. Ghanshyam Sarda was born in Kolkata (Calcutta), India in 1959. He is the son of the late Mr. Shiwlal Sarda, founder of a business conglomerate.

Entering the family business after graduating from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, Mr. Sarda first focused on the jute industry, traditionally one of India’s major export earners, but then in decline. He has the distinction of having revived 9 sick and ailing jute mills, mostly closed after incurring huge outstanding liabilities to employees, banks and various institutions. He oversaw the liquidation of all liabilities to workers and restoration of financial health, which had been undermined by the previous managements. Today the Sarda Group commands a 20% share in India’s resurgent jute industry.

Turning his hand to a vital and versatile industrial intermediary product, Mr. Sarda then acquired Kolmak Chemicals Limited, an enterprise promoted by Indian Oxygen Limited to manufacture Titanium Dioxide, but on its way to liquidation in the absence of suitable technology. He then made the substantial investments and structural adjustments necessary to enable smooth running operations.

In 1994, his Group took over a seafood processing plant at Raichak, West Bengal, originally promoted by the Government of West Bengal state in 1982 with World Bank finance. Initially leased by Union Carbide Corporation of the USA, it was lying closed at the time of the acquisition. Under Mr. Sarda’s management, the plant was redesigned, and not only revived, it is today the largest seafood processor in West Bengal, and one of India’s most quality-certified plants of its kind, with EU registration and HACCP certification from the US Food & Drug Authority.

With a workforce of over 50,000 in West Bengal, the Sarda Group is one of West Bengal’s largest employers.

A keen observer of the Indian scene as a whole, Mr. Sarda is known for his thought-provoking views on a variety of topics, from public affairs to sports.