Delhi Cloth Mills
| Industry | Basic materials and technology |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1889 |
Delhi Cloth & General Mills (aka Delhi Cloth Mills or DCM) is an Indian company founded in 1889 by Rai Bahadur Ram Kishen Das Gurwale. Initially a textiles mill, the company later expanded into many industries and became a large Indian conglomerate. However, in the 1980s, as a result of legal and financial challenges the company was forced to split into several industry segments.
The company was founded in 1889 by Rai Bahadur Ram Kishen Das Gurwale and its first factory, located in Delhi, took two years to build. The company prospered through 1907 and in 1909 Sir Shri Ram joined the company as an assistant to his father during a period of decline. Under Ram's guidance the company regained a prosperous pace. The company went through a significant financial crisis in 1917 but recovered after it received a large contract from the British Army at the time of the First World War. The mill was engaged primarily in the cotton and sugar trades and became one of the top mills in northern India. The company opened a second cloth mill and two sugar mills in 1925. It launched DCM Chemical Works in 1941 and Daurala Distillery in 1942. In 1946 it began manufacturing vanaspati.
Over time the company expanded and had many subsidiaries including Usha International, Bengal Potteries, Jay Engineering Works and Shri Ram Fertilizers. In 1964 the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Bharat Ram, addressed the 76th annual meeting of shareholders.
In the 1980s the company name was changed to DCM Ltd and it successfully defended a hostile takeover by a UK-based investor. As the eventual result of the failed takeover, DCM was split into four distinct companies in 1990. The four companies were: DCM, DCM Shriram Industries, Shriram Industrial Enterprises and DCM Shriram Consolidated. In 1999 there was further splintering of the company into two additional parts.
In 1995, DCM's 1983 partnership with Toyota Motors came to an end. DCM then entered a partnership with the Korean automotive company, Daewoo Motors, which ended in 2001 after Daewoo Motors went bankrupt. During the latter 1990s Delhi Cloth & General Mills had a series of financial defaults and lawsuits. The company's 116 year old manufacturing facility was torn down to make new commercial and residential buildings. The razing was the result of a 1989 Supreme Court decision which drove factories out of the city of Delhi.
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