When Hinduja Boarded the Leyland Bus

In 1983, Swraj Paul, in the status of a non-resident Indian (NRI), wished to take over a couple of Indian companies whose stock prices were underperforming, only to be deterred by the hurdles posed by the system and finally gave up. Four years later, another NRI family, the Hinduja family, forayed successfully into the Indian manufacturing sector when it acquired Ashok Leyland Ltd and Ennore Foundries Ltd in a single deal. The Hinduja family, with its origins in pre-partition India, initially became wealthy in its trading ventures based in Iran, and later in the UK.

Their foray into a big manufacturing venture is credited to the vision and enterprise of Gopichand Paramanand Hinduja, the third of the five sons of the founder, Paramanand Deepchand. Ashok Leyland, a ventu