Godrej - over 125 years young.
Our story began as part of
India's Swadeshi movement -
the original 'Make in India'
movement.
Ardeshir Godrej, after a few failed
ventures, sets up a lock company.
For him, the key to success turns out
to be locks.
We launch Chavi, the first soap in the world
to be made without animal fat.
We score for Swadeshi and ahimsa.
Soon after, we launch another soap,
Godrej No.2. Why the name? To borrow
Ardeshir Godrej's explanation, "If people
find No.2 so good, they'll believe No.1 to
be even better!"
Ardeshir Godrej, an ardent nationalist,
donates 3 lakh rupees to the Tilak Swaraj
Fund, the largest single contribution
back then.
One of our most treasured moments:
Mahatma Gandhi, in a letter to a favour-seeking
competitor, says: “I hold my brother Godrej in
such high regard that if your enterprise is likely
to harm him in any way, I regret very much that I
cannot give you my blessings.”
Godrej No.1 is born into swadeshi fervour
and is fondly endorsed by many, including
Rabindranath Tagore, Annie Besant and
C. Rajagopalachari. Today, it is one of India's
biggest soap brands.
Public Provident Fund is introduced at Godrej,
14 years before the Government of India
mandates it.
The then Government of Bombay auctions
Vikhroli village to Pirojsha Godrej. Over the
years, Vikhroli transforms into a green,
industrial township that cares for its people
and the environment.
We go green way before it is cool to do so
and decide to let mangroves be mangroves.
You will find a dense cover of mangroves,
nearly 3x the size of New York's Central Park,
owned and cared for by us,
in the heart of our estate in Mumbai.
A devastating explosion at the Bombay
docks leaves terrible carnage in its wake.
Among the few things to survive the blast
are Godrej safes.
We were thrilled to make 1.7 million ballot boxes
for India's first steps as a democracy. K. R.
Thanewalla remembers, "I know that our best
was around 22,000 ballot boxes per day!
We would be at the plant from quarter to
seven onwards and rarely left before midnight."
The Soonabai Pirojsha Godrej Foundation
is founded. Today, approximately 23 per cent
of the promoter holding in the Group is
held in trusts that invest in the environment,
health and education.
Total Quality Management is formally
introduced at Godrej, grounding our
commitment to create amazing quality,
world-class products.
Godrej Properties is established,
bringing the Group's philosophy of
innovation and excellence to the real
estate industry in India.
Godrej Agrovet is incorporated.
A diversified, Research & Development
backed agri-business company, it is
dedicated to addressing India's key
agricultural crises.
We celebrate our 100th birthday
and remind ourselves that we are
only as good as what we do next.
Godrej Soaps is demerged into a
Chemicals business, Godrej Chemicals,
and a focused FMCG business,
Godrej Consumer Products -
which is how we are now known.
India sends Chandrayaan–1, its first
unmanned mission to the moon, becoming
the fifth nation to do so. We are proud of
our engineering expertise that helps build
the launch vehicle and lunar orbiter for
the mission.
Building on our legacy of sustainability
and making a commitment to build a
more employable and greener world.
The Godrej India Culture Lab is set up
as a fluid, experimental space that
cross-pollinates ideas and people to
explore what it means to be modern
and Indian.
We introduce the Godrej Capability Factors
of ‘Leading Self’, ‘Leading Others’ and
‘Leading Business’, to define and measure
leadership capability at Godrej. All our
people processes are based on this.
Passionate people make for passionate
Godrejites! Godrej LOUD (Live Out Ur
Dream), our radically different take on
recruitment, launches in India,
kickstarting the hunt for people with
powerful personal dreams. Now we host
it in Africa and Indonesia too.
Adi Godrej, Chairman of the Godrej Group,
is awarded the Padma Bhushan,
the third-highest civilian award in India,
for "distinguished service of a high order".
We are proud to partner with the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) on India's first
mission to Mars. Godrej Aerospace engines
power the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and
our precision components calculate the
satellite's trajectory to the millisecond.
Godrej Properties and Pelli Clarke Pelli
Architects create Godrej One, our new
global headquarters at Vikhroli in Mumbai.
Our employee value proposition and
efforts to build an inspiring place to work
are anchored in the 3 pillars of ‘Your
Canvas’, ‘Tough Love’ and ‘Whole Self’.
Creating our first investment platform
targeting residential real estate by
bringing together a group of
overseas institutional investors
We introduce The Godrej Way, our refreshed
purpose and values. It talks about why we
exist and how we add value together; how
we bring meaning to what we do, what will
guide our decisions.
We partner with the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights and launch an unprecedented set
of global corporate standards to support
the business community in tackling
discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi,
trans and intersex (LGBTI) people, at our
headquarters in Vikhroli, Mumbai
We launch a ‘Manifesto for Trans Inclusion
in the Indian Workplace’ to highlight the
circumstances of trans people in India,
and how corporate India can take action
to improve them.
We set up the Godrej Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lab to empower inclusion ecosystems through strategic guidance, building DEI ecosystems in corporate India, partnerships with universities, think tanks and industry bodies, and much more.
