Karsanbhai Patel
Overview
- Source of Wealth
- Consumer goods, cement
- Industry
- Diversified
- Residence
- Ahmedabad
- Marital Status
- Married
- Children
- 3
Assets
- Glenmark Life Sciences91,896,000 shares @ --543322-IN
- Nuvoco Vistas257,218,000 shares @ --543334-IN
Biography
Low-profile founder of Nirma, Karsanbhai Patel, started out mixing detergents in his backyard and selling them door-to-door on his bicycle.
His low-price Nirma brand sparked a detergents war with bigger rivals such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble.
Today Nirma is one of the largest producers of soda ash in the world by volume.
Patel has long handed over operations to the next generation and took the company private in 2012. His cement unit Nuvoco Vistas was listed in 2021.
In 2024, Nirma completed the $680 million acquisition of a 75% stake in Glenmark Life Sciences, a maker of pharmaceutical ingredients, since renamed as Alivus Life Sciences.
About
Patel was born into a farmer's family in Gujarat and started his career as a lab assistant.
Nirma is named after Patel's late daughter Nirupama.