Benu Gopal Bangur : The Man Behind Building the Shree Cement Company Story

The Life Journey of Benu Gopal Bangur - The Cement Czar of India

In the days when India was setting up the trade with foreign countries, Benu Gopal Bangur worked on his cement company and aimed to establish the company that is made in India and till date considered to be highly affordable in the industries of cement. Benu Gopal Bangur, an heir to one of the biggest empires of India, is known as the Bangur Empire that was built in Kolkata by his grandfather, Mr. Mungee Ram Bangur. During the family feud, the empire was divided amongst five of his grandsons, and Benu Gopal Bangur inherited the Shree Cement Company and became the chairman of Shree Cement Company, having a turnover of more than 12,000 crores at present.

Fun Fact : Shree Cement had donated some Rs. 2 crores and 51 lakhs to the Rajasthan CM for the covid relief fund.

Benu Gopal Bangur – Statistics

• Full Name – Benu Gopal Bangur
• Born – October 4th, 1931 (current age 90)
• Birth – Kolkata, India
• Occupation – Businessman
• Marital Status – Widowed

Benu Gopal Bangur – Early Life

Benu Gopal Bangur was born in the city of palaces, the city of Joy, and where the literature grew, Kolkata or Calcutta (earlier), in the year 1930 when the Britishers were ruling India. He was born in a typical Marwari Bussiness Family where his grandfather, Mr. Mungee Ram Bangur, and grandfather’s brother, Ram Coower Bangur, were the Calcutta’s stockbrokers.

Benu Gopal Bangur – Education

Benu Gopal Bangur lived in Kolkata with his family and graduated with a B.com honors degree from Calcutta University. It is noted that he was one of the first graduates of that time in Kolkata.

Benu Gopal Bangur – Family

The roots of the family come from Rajasthan that connects the culture of Kolkata to the base culture of Rajasthan, i.e., Marwari culture, as his ancestors resided in the area called Didwana in Rajasthan. Benu Gopal Bangur’s grandfather had built the Bangur Empire in the late 19th Century, which included different businesses. At the time of family separation, the empire was divided into five parts due to the economic liberalization, which got distributed between all the four grandsons of Mungee Ram Bangur and one grandson of Ram Coower Bangur.

Presently, Benu Gopal Bangur is widowed and have two children. One of his sons, Hari Mohan Bangur, a chemical engineer, IIT Mumbai, is currently running the company since 1990, with Benu Gopal Bangur’s grandson, Prashant Bangur.

Benu Gopal Bangur & Shree Cement Company History

• Background Shree Cement Company was initially formed in 1979 at Jaipur, Rajasthan, by the grandfather of Benu Gopal Bangur. During the split of family business due to the economic liberalization, Benu Gopal Bangur got the hand of 65% shares of Shree Cement, and then afterwards he became the chairman of the company.
• Development Shree Cement expanded in massive quantities and became the fastest-growing cement producer under Bangur’s leadership. The firm has introduced several household products, including Roofon, Bangur Power, Shree Jung Rodhak, Bangur Cement, and Rock strong. It has also entered the power generation domain recently.
• Business Expansion His son Hari Mohan Bangur, a chemical engineer from IIT Mumbai, was given the firm’s management in 2012. As a family patriarch, in July 2018, he led Prashant Bangur, his son and grandson, to buy $305 million of Union Cement Company located in Ras Al Khaimah. Jaiprakash had been previously acquired by the company in 2014.

Note : Benu Gopal Bangur had established plants around India, spent technology money, engaged in R&D, and transformed the cement producer into a highly successful corporation.

Shree Cement - Top Competitors

• ACC Limited. 7,833. $1 Billion.
• Ambuja Cements Limited. 5,183. $3 Billion.
• UltraTech Cement Limited. 14,410. $42 Billion.
• Lafarge SA. 12,843. $14 Billion.
• JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd. 1,384. $436 Million.
• The India Cements Ltd. 2,605. $722 Million.
• Heidelberg Cement AG. 60,424. $16 Billion.
• Holcim Ltd. 71,000.

Benu Gopal Bangur : Achievements

• By 2019, the Kolkata-based business had already become one of the top three cement groups with a production capacity of 41,9 MTPA
• The company’s market capitalization is among the top 50 listed businesses in India.
• Total turnover for the firm was Rs 11,722, and operating profit was Rs 2898 crore.
• In the year through March 31st, 2021, the firm recorded revenues of $1.8 billion.
• At present, the company has acquired the title of one of India’s most cost-efficient cement producers.

Benu Gopal Bangur : Awards and Honors

• In 2013, Benu Gopal Bangur was 35th on the Forbes list of India’s richest people.
• In 2020, he ranked 14th in the Forbes list of India’s billionaire list with a net worth of $ 7.3 billion.
• Benu Gopal Bangur was honored with Sahitya Akademi Award

Benu Gopal Bangur: Contributions & Philanthropy

• In 2020, to mark the ‘Vijay Diwas’, the Indian commemoration day of the Indo-Pak war of 1971, Shree Cement had distributed free donations of cement to the families of armed force personal who died in the war.
• With the closing of the Tokyo Olympics 2021, Shree Cement has promised to give free cement to the athletes who won the medals for the country.

Benu Gopal Bangur – Marwari Businessman with Billionaire’s Mind

Despite being born into a businessmen family, Benu Gopal Bangur never gave up on his studies, even at those times when the study wasn’t considered an important factor of life, and he succeeded in being the first graduate of Calcutta University. He is one of those kinds of billionaire minds who not only think of the company’s expansion but rather an expansion of the country through his company’s contribution to the country’s development.