Way back, in the beginning of the 19th century, a seed was sown by Shri Karamchand Premchand. A seed of entrepreneurship, business integrity and social awareness. This seed led to the inception of the first industrial enterprise: Calico, one of Ahmedabad’s oldest textile mills, established in 1880.
His progeny Ambalal Sarabhai took over the family business and consolidated and diversified it, and Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises (ASE) continues today to honor his visions and ideals.
Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Limited (ASE) was considered one of the leading, most progressive and diversified industrial houses in India, popularly known as “Sarabhai”.
Ambalal Sarabhai built an empire that stemmed from the Calico and Jubilee textile mills he inherited from his father. His son Dr. Vikram Sarabhai pioneered the pharmaceutical companies of ASE that would become synonymous with quality, trusted medicine in India.
Sarabhai, what is today ASE, has its genesis in diverse companies promoted by the late Mr. Ambalal Sarabhai whose business acumen and progressive ideals made him a leading industrial player in India.
A visionary
of the
industrial
era
A visionary of the industrial era
Ambalal Sarabhai vigorously pursued a policy of industrial development, seeking out the most modern textile manufacturing technologies internationally to adopt in the Sarabhai textile mill companies, an investment that quickly repaid itself and catapulted the company.
In the 1930s and 40s, Ambalal Sarabhai entered diverse fields and expanded its presence around the country while continually employing the strategy of improvement and innovation including newer technologies.
The business branched out into sectors such as oil, sugar, detergents and soaps, electronic sub-assemblies, mechanical components, all conforming to the stringent quality standards for which the Sarabhais came to be known. Indian independence from the British in 1947 ushered in a new era and with it a great need for self-sufficient local production. The Sarahbais seized this opportunity setting in motion their rapid growth to meet the needs of a fledgling nation. Many of these enterprises represented pioneer ventures in fields which till then had been dominated by foreign companies. A comprehensive national distribution network was created to make consumer and industrial products available to the remotest corners of the vast and predominantly rural country of India.
Pioneering
opportunities
Pioneering opportunities
- The first employers to recognise representative trade unions.
- The first to start a hospital for employees and their families, along with a creche for infants of working mothers even before it was dictated by laws.
Medicines you can trust
Dr Vikram Sarabhai
laid the foundation of
Sarabhai Chemicals with a clear
directive that India needed to
locally manufacture and promote
high quality medicines to
serve its people.
He forged technical
collaborations with Stellar
International Pharmaceutical
companies Er Squibb of USA
(now Bristol Myers Squibb), Geigy
of Switzerland (now Novartis)
and E Merck of Germany.
He identified the need
for more scientific marketing
of pharmaceuticals and in the
early 60s established ORG (now
Acneilsen org-marg), a market
research company which today
continues to provide reliable
market information to
businesses in India.
Founder &
Father of
India’s Space
Program
Founder & Father of India’s Space Program
Vikram Sarabhai was a formidable scientist and visionary leader. Parallel to his work building the burgeoning pharmaceutical sector, he helped organize the application of space science in India.
He is widely regarded as the father of India’s space programme—and was instrumental in the formation of the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), the premier management school in India, and other leading institutions to serve as a platform for science to propel development forward in the country.
He is widely regarded as the father of India’s space programme—and was instrumental in the formation of the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), the premier management school in India, and other leading institutions to serve as a platform for science to propel development forward in the country.
Design, Excellence
and prophecy
Design, Excellence and prophecy
When Vikram Sarabhai became the chairman of the Atomic Commision of India in 1966, He handed over the business to his elder brother - Gautam Sarabhai. Besides managing the entire sarabhai portfolio of companies, Gautam Sarabhai also revived the philosophy of the Bauhaus design movement which was based on learning by doing.
Based on the recommendations made in the India Report, the Government of India with the assistance of the Ford Foundation and the Sarabhai family established the National Institute of Industrial Design, as it was originally called as an autonomous all-India body in September 1961 at Ahmedabad. Gautam Sarabhai and his sister Gira played a major role in the establishment and early years of National Institute of India (NID), Ahmedabad.
The management consolidated the activities being carried out in different corporate identities, and on 27th June 1977 formally established Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Limited (ASE).
For further expansion and diversification of these amalgamated Sarabhai Enterprises, ASE’s internal financial resources were strengthened through a public share offering in 1981.
Until the mid 80s ASE remained India’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer with over 10% market share, a figure not matched by any other company even today.
Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Limited
However, by the late 80s ASE ran into serious difficulties spurred by restrictive patent and price controls and intellectual property policies put into place by the government of India. This restrictive environment discouraged many of its international partners form continuing to conduct business in India, and the partnerships foundered, throwing ASE into crisis.
The founder of the company, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, passed away in 1971.
During the previous years his brother Mr Gautam Sarabhai had assumed chairmanship of ASE which he held until 1992, when Mr Kshitish Divatia took up the role.
By the early 90’s ASE was desperate for a complete re-organization to stave off its demise. The publicly traded textile mill - Calico Mills - had already collapsed and many in the industry at that time were convinced that ASE was destined for the same fate.
The Revival
The Revival
Solutions that led
to the valuable
prospects
Solutions that led to the valuable prospects
A re-structuring effort over the next decade was lead by Mr. Kartikeya V Sarabhai (son of the Founder, Dr. Vikram A Sarabhai), who took over in 1995 and saved the company from bankruptcy. Crippling liabilities that had accrued over many years were resolved through many stages of corporate restructuring.
Mr. Kartikeya Sarabhai along with his son Mr. Mohal Sarabhai manage what is ASE today, with newly launched companies and restructured subsidiaries, with a vision to once again become a key strategic and significant industrial company backed by a rich legacy. ASE today remains routed to its past but is growing well into the future...
Bringing innovative solutions to complex sets of problems meant reinventing ASE into a different corporation to ensure its survival in the contemporary business environment in India.
Business Portfolio
Spreading it's wings widely in varied multi-dimentional disciplines; ASE has marked it’s presence and created benchmarks in diverse groups with a core mission to serve it’s customers and provide them with health, nurture and care.
Pharmaceuticals
- Pan India distribution of various medicines under the Sarabhai brand name.
- International registration in over 40 countries.
- Fermentation and Synthetic bulk active manufacturing.
- Effervescent products manufacturing.
- USFDA and other regulatory bodies approved state-of-the-art plants.
Electronics
- Analytical , Tests and Measuring instruments manufacturing.
- Pan India presence.
- Well equipped R & D facility.
- Products used by Pharmaceutical, Agriculture, Education and other industries.
Broadcasting
- Total broadcasting solution as per customer requirements.
- Pan India presence.
- Representatives for Sony, Sennheiser, Axon and more ….
Diagnostics
- Highly advanced and innovative molecular diagnostics manufacturing.
- Faster, more accurate and affordable diagnostic kits.
- Zika, TB, Dengue, Chickungunea, Malaria and other tests for global markets.
Nursery
- Over 200 different locally grown plants specially for city roof tops.
- Seasonal vegetable.
- Greening the city initiative.
Business Portfolio
Spreading it's wings widely in varied multi-dimentional disciplines; ASE has marked it’s presence and created benchmarks in diverse groups with a core mission to serve it’s customers and provide them with health, nurture and care.
Pharmaceuticals
Electronics
Broadcasting
Diagnostics
Nursery
Subsidiaries/
Operations
Subsidiaries/Operations
The present ASE portfolio of companies and new initiatives are poised for rapid growth.
ASE through its subsidiaries is investing in a state of the art pharmaceuticals manufacturing plant as well as doing research in innovative products which would soon have “First time in India” launches.
Contact
Us
Contact Us
Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Limited
Shanti Sadan
Mirzapur Road
Ahmedabad, INDIA.
Tel : + 91-79- 25507671
Fax : +91-79-25507483
Email : [email protected]
