Tamil Nadu family business grows from bullock carts to Rs 20,000-crore empire
The ABT–Sakthi Group has evolved into a $2-billion conglomerate after starting with bullock cart hiring in 1921.
The ABT–Sakthi Group, which describes itself as a $2-billion (Rs 20,000 crore) conglomerate, began in 1921 when P. Nachimuthu Gounder started hiring out bullock carts in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, according to Moneycontrol.
Gounder moved into motorised transport by 1931, establishing Anamallais Bus Transport (ABT) with a fleet of 21 buses. By 1946, the fleet had grown to over 100 buses, eventually reaching approximately 150 buses across 110 routes in the Coimbatore region.
Following Gounder's death in 1954, his son N. Mahalingam took over the business. An engineering graduate, Mahalingam expanded the family's interests beyond passenger transport, being associated with the establishment of Sakthi Finance in 1955 and Sakthi Sugars in 1961.
The group also launched ABT Parcel Service in 1964. Although the Tamil Nadu government nationalised private passenger bus operations in 1972, which ended ABT's original bus services, the family had already diversified into sectors including auto components, textiles, and food processing.
Mahalingam, who represented Pollachi in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 1952, 1957, and 1962, also established Nachimuthu Polytechnic College on September 5, 1957. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2007 and died on October 2, 2014.