Ruia’s – a brief history

The name ruia originates from ‘Rui’, which means cotton, and likewise, the business history of the ruia family began with cotton trade. Mr. Ramnarain Ruia’s futuristic approach took the family’s business interest to a manifold growth. The family’s primary interest was in the field of cotton textiles. The family tree of the Ruias is as under:

Mr. Ramnarain Ruia acquired the Phoenix Mills, the Dawn Mills, and the Bradbury Mills thereby asserting the family as an integral part of the textile business. With a continuing effort to dominate textiles, R. R. Hosiery and R. R Textiles were set up for the manufacture of knitted cloth and garments.

The family also made its foray in the field of dyes, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, footwear and sugar. Color Chem., Indo Chem., Raptakos Brett, Kolhapur Sugar Mills, Noble Steel, Bombay Oxygen and Carona Shoes were also set up with the support of the Ruia family. The erstwhile Ruia Krishi Kendra, agriculture division was involved in grape farming and dairy.

The family was also instrumental in setting up ‘The Union Bank of India’ and ‘The New India Assurance’, which as of date are considered as one of the most premium institutions. Pursuant to nationalization of the banking and the insurance sectors, the family was forced to surrender these companies.

Along with the business activities the ruias also contributed substantially to philanthropic purposes. The Ramnarain Ruia College, Matunga, founded in 1936 is presently one of the leading science colleges in Mumbai. The family has also contributed to a girl’s school at Andheri and girls school/college in rural Rajasthan. Apart from these educational institutions, the family has also contributed to a cancer hospital at Tirupati.

In the world of sports, the Ruia family has strived to do its best to promote games like Bridge, Badminton, Table Tennis, Golf and Horse Racing. In particular, in duplicate Bridge, the family helped to bring India to the international circuit by hosting tournaments and sponsoring events.