1890
(The Beginning)
The Neotia family has been an integral part of the business scene in Kolkata for nearly 120 years. Originating from Rajasthan, their forefathers settled in the city some time in 1890s, being attracted to the opportunities for enterprise that the city offered. Since then, Kolkata has been their home and subsequent generations have been born and brought up here.
1950 – The founders
Patriarchs of the Ambuja Neotia Group, Late Shri Suresh Neotia and Late Shri Vinod Neotia started their entrepreneurial career in the mid-1950s. Their eldest brother Shri Bimal Kumar Poddar was adopted by their maternal grandfather Shri Janki Prasad Poddar, a partner of the celebrated firm “Tarachand Ghanshyamdas”. This was probably one of the first wholly Indian registered partnership firms during the time of the British occupation of India. It was a trading firm that had offices right from Karachi in Pakistan to Shanghai in China. It began with interests in banking and insurance and later diversified into distribution of petroleum products, as a franchisee of Burma Shell.
Subsequent to dissolution of “Tarachand Ghanshyamdas”, the three brothers Late Shri Bimal Kumar Poddar, Late Shri Suresh Neotia and Late Shri Vinod Neotia set up “Radhakrishna Bimal Kumar” in the mid-1950s. As a leading franchisee of Burma Shell in the country, it operated out of several branches spread across UP, Bihar and West Bengal.