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| Bengal Chemicals, How it looks today (Copyright: business-standard.com) |
Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BCPL), previously known as the Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. is India’s oldest pharma company. It is this century old company which had only supplied hydroxychloroquine and became the saviour of the world at the primary stage of the Corona virus outbreak. But the future of the company is under grave threat even after making profit after a long 64 years as it has for long been under the radar of the centre for disinvestment.
The company started its journey in 1895 holding the hands of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, the father of Indian chemistry. Prafulla Chandra believed that India’s progress could be achieved by massive industrialisation. He set up this pharma factory, first of its own kind with very minimal resources, working from home. With the flow of time, it became a important centre for making pharmaceuticals and chemicals. I doubt if there any Bengali family exists which never had used the Napthalene balls and Phenyl produced by this company!
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| Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, founder of BCPL (copyright: bengalchemicals.co.in) |
While this company was successful, it started making losses in mid-1950s. The management of the company was taken over by the union government of India in 1977 and it was nationalised on 15th December, 1980. Following decades of losses, BCPL returned to profitability in the financial year 2017-18. And of course 2020 is no exception.
This institution was a trusted name in the field of supplying medicines, drugs for malaria and other diseases for decades. From a beginning with one factory in Kolkata's Maniktala in 1905, three more factories were established- one in Paniharti in 1920, one in Kanpur in 1949, with its registered office at 6 Ganesh Chandra Avenue, Kolkata. But it started to struggle after the death of Prafulla Chandra in 1944.It started facing losses in the mid 1950s. It was referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction in 1992. And finally now centre has declared to start its disinvestment procedure.
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| The facory of BCPL (Copyright: thefederal.com) |
----By Flicker
References:
https://bengalchemicals.co.in/our-founder-history/
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/bengal-chemicals-posts-profit-after-63-years-117041201533_1.html
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/how-bengal-chemicals-pharma-raced-back-into-the-black/article28762430.ece
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/pharmaceuticals/indias-oldest-pharma-company-bengal-chemicals-turns-profitable-after-64-years-but-faces-privatisation-blues/articleshow/59360661.cms?from=mdr
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