Our company, The Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd. was established on 21 September 1934 by Chandrashekhar Agashe. 

 

Our Syndicate’s foundations are rooted in the Indian Independence Movement, and the political climates of the Bhor State and the Bombay Presidency, under which our founder endeavoured to improve the financial conditions of the farming community of rural Maharashtra. It was with great tact, that our founder and early management secured funding for our Syndicate through equitable shareholding, a means of fundraising unheard of in the 1930s. We welcomed our first shareholder on 6 January 1935, and counted the likes of N. C. Kelkar, B. G. Kher, A. R. Bhat, Jagannath Maharaj Pandit, and R. P. Paranjape as some of our initial board members, advisors, and shareholders. Our Syndicate’s first factory was established on 1 April 1938.

 

Our Syndicate has been at the forefront of several key historic moments in Maharashtrian business and politics throughout its lifetime – we became one of the founding members of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries & Agriculture in 1934, and an initial account holder with the Bank of Maharashtra when it was established in 1935, with our founder publishing memoranda and advertisements exclusively through the Kesari newspaper since our foundation. The manufacturers of our sugar processing machinery were Škoda Works in Czechoslovakia throughout the late 1930s and into the 1940s, despite the country’s occupation under Germany during the Second World War. 

 

In the 1930s, our founder worked closely with British Governors of Bombay and some of the premiere thinkers of Maharashtra, to bring his vision to life. In the early 1940s, despite the outbreak of the Second World War, our Syndicate broke new ground in its sugar manufacturing processes. The Syndicate further aided the Deccan Education Society in the foundation of its commerce college in 1943, which they in-turn honoured the Syndicate by naming it the Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce. In the late 1940s, our Syndicate also witnessed the harsh realities of the anti-Brahmin riots in 1948. The 1950s saw our managing agent continue to face rivalries in business from competitive sugar factories across Maharashtra. 

 

Our founder and managing agent Chandrashekhar Agashe’s untimely death in 1956 saw our Syndicate fall under the able hands of K. V. Champhekar, his successor as managing agent who served his position dutifully till 1962. He was in turn succeeded by G. S. Valimbe until 1969. All the while, the chairman of our board remained S. L. Limaye, who had served at this post from 1957 till his death in 1990. It was under his guidance that our founder’s sons Jagdish “Panditrao” Agashe and Dnyaneshwar Agashe were introduced as the company’s joint managing directors in 1970. 

 

Throughout the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s, our company expanded into the sectors of banking, finance, technology, herbal medication, veterinary foods and medication, and Ayurvedic skincare, haircare and healthcare products while we expanded our sugar and country liquor manufacturing businesses with tie-ups with companies in Australia, Canada, and France among others, to produce Indian made foreign liquor and wines. Since 2009, our company has been managed by Ashutosh Agashe. In 2000, our financial technology arm became Sarvatra Technologies, while our Ayurvedic products arm became Brihans Natural Products Ltd. Our sugar manufacturing and liquor manufacturing arms were sold in 1990 and 2010 respectively.

 

Today, the Syndicate is involved in the development or re-development of our rural land holdings, business consultancy in the areas of sugar and liquor manufacturing, investing in small to medium sized businesses, and several charitable endeavours, while being the custodians of the mighty legacy we have inherited. Some of our most notable charitable donations have been to the Bijapur Famine Fund and the Bengal Famine Fund in 1943, the Panshet Dam Flood relief in 1961, and donations of oxygen concentrators to hospitals in Shreepur, Maharashtra, during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 and 2021.