FoodWorld: Pioneering Organized Food Retailing in India

His efforts paid off and very soon, he started doing business with the East India Company. As the business flourished, more people from the Goenka clan joined in and became involved in the company's other ventures such as banking, textiles, jute and tea. Over the decades, the Goenkas became names worth reckoning in the Indian business scene.

However, the credit for laying the foundation of the RPG group (in its present form) goes to Rama Prasad Goenka (Goenka). Over the decades, the group diversified into a number of businesses (refer Table I for information about the RPG group of companies). Many RPG brands formed a part of almost every Indian's life.

Since the time it was established, RPG entered into partnerships with many international companies, which included 16 Fortune 500 companies. By 2001, the group had 58,573 employees, a turnover of Rs 66 billion and an asset base of Rs 68 billion. The estimates given by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)² in May 2001 put the Indian retail industry's size at $ 180 billion. According to a CII-McKinsey report, the retail industry had the potential to develop into a $ 300 billion industry by the year 2010. Having realized this potential, RPG had already begun working hard towards establishing itself as the owner of the country's most successful chain of retail outlets. RPG's foray into the retail business had begun way back in 1989, when it took over the retail store chain, Spencers³...