Draft:Sahaganj Dunlop Factory
Submission declined on 5 December 2025 by Monkeysmashingkeyboards (talk).
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Submission declined on 5 June 2025 by WikiMentor01 (talk). This draft's references do not show that the subject meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion for organizations and companies. The draft requires multiple published secondary sources that:
Declined by WikiMentor01 12 months ago.
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Comment: Based on a brief looking-over of the article, it is probably ready to be resubmitted. Commandant Quacks-a-lot (talk) 02:20, 15 October 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: Please source the "Etymology" section as well. Kind regards, Spinster300 (talk) 17:35, 2 April 2025 (UTC).
- Comment: "Ownership" contains original research please source it or remove. Theroadislong (talk) 09:13, 1 April 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: The "Overview" section is unsourced and really not required, it seems to be based on personal knowledge. Theroadislong (talk) 08:49, 1 April 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: This needs a complete re-write, the tone is NOT appropriate. Theroadislong (talk) 07:28, 1 April 2025 (UTC)
| Sahaganj Dunlop Factory | |
|---|---|
Dunlop Factory | |
 Dunlop Factory | |
 Interactive map of the Sahaganj Dunlop Factory area | |
General information | |
| Status | On hold |
| Type | Tire Factory |
| Location | Sahaganj, Bandel, Hooghly, West Bengal, India |
| Coordinates | 22°56′27″N 88°24′10″E / 22.9408578°N 88.4027129°E |
| Named for | Dunlop Tyres |
| Opened | 1936 |
| Closed | 2011 |
| Cost | ₹ 700 crore or US$ 82 million |
| Owner | Dunlop India Limited |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 26.7 hectares (267,000 m2) |
| Grounds | 250 acres (100 hectares)[1] |
Sahaganj Dunlop Factory (also known as Dunlop Factory) is a tire manufacturing plant in the city of Bandel, Hooghly, West Bengal. It is the first tire manufacturing plant in Asia built by Dunlop India Limited (DIL) in 1936.[2] The factory was operational from its opening date in 1936, but it had been closed in 2011 and eventually abandoned. It used to have 12,000 employees at peak.[3]
History
[edit]Dunlop Tyres started in 1888 with the discovery of the pneumatic tires by John Boyd Dunlop in Ireland. Dunlop entered India in 1896 and started its company that was then known as Dunlop Rubber Company (India) Limited. It was in 1936 that Dunlop India set up the Dunlop Factory at Sahaganj, which was the first of it its kind in Asia. The factory produced a number of different tires including but not limited to: automobile tires, airplane tires, cycle tires and rims and also for animal drawn carts and eventually made much progress as at one point producing 300 varieties of tires. In 1959, Dunlop India set up its second factory at Ambattur in Tamil Nadu.[4][5]
Dunlop was one of the most prominent tire brands in the pneumatic tire industry at the time and the Sahaganj factory was its symbol. The plant became known that Prince Charles, the current king of the United Kingdom, came to see it in 1980.[3]
In 1984, Dubai-based businessman Manu Chhabria and industrialist R. P. Goenka acquired Dunlop. Chhabria became the chairman and R.P. Goenka's son Sanjiv Goenka became the deputy managing director and made some changes to the company. They identified key focus areas of the large number of tires such as passenger cars and trucks, as said by a senior former manager. From making the changes, they jumped from the number five spot of the tire manufacturers to the number one spot, surpassing Modi Rubber, Madras Rubber Factory, Apollo and CEAT tires in 1987. Dunlop then launched its famous marketing campaign. Due to the troubled working relations between Manu Chhabria and Sanjiv Goenka, Goenka left the company. Chhabria was initially an electronic goods dealer from Dubai and was not very experienced in running the quite large companies he was acquiring in India.[6]
In 1996, the Dunlop and Shaw Wallace labor unions made a representation to the finance minister and the Prime Minister's Office seeking the removal of Manu Chhabria. By 2000, the Sahaganj plant had closed while the Ambattur Plant and Dunlop as a whole were facing great difficulty.[6][7] DIL had announced in 18 May 2000 that the production in both plants would be resumed.[8] Ruia said the management's work was halted due to the labor unions' strike. He believed that both the plants could still become functional if the local administration and the workers cooperated in favor of the factory. He said that the production could be resumed if some funds were supplied to the organization.[1]
On 7 February 1998, the operation of the company was closed.[9] In 2005, Kolkata-based entrepreneur Pawan Kumar Ruia, or the his company Ruia Group, bought Dunlop India, and also the Mysore-based Falcon tires from Manu Chhabria's company Jumbo Group for an estimated 2 billion Indian rupees (US$23.2 million) in 2005.[7] Ruia was assisted by the team which helped him acquire and turnaround Jessop and Co. Ltd, bought by the Ruia group in 2003.[10] According to India’s United News Agency, Ruia said that 1.5 billion rupees (US$17.4 million) would be needed for the complete revival of the company. But the National Productivity Council projected the amount needed to be about ₹2.1 billion (US$22 million). Ruia also said the total liability of the company would be ₹6 billion (US$70 million) and the negotiations would begin soon with State Bank of India, which would first need to be approved by Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR). Next, the group's plan was to resume production in the Sahaganj and Ambattur units of the company.[11] He visited the Sahaganj plant with his family and told that the plant was in a much better condition than expected and wanted to start production soon in the plant.[12][13]
On 21 October 2011, Dunlop engaged in a meeting with Government-owned West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSEDCL) in which they tendered to briefly uplift the termination of running the factory if they provided electricity to the plant. WBSEDCL had stopped supplying power because the factory didn't pay its due money.[7] On February 27, 2016, the political party of Trinamool Congress passed two bills aiming for the takeover of Dunlop India, including the factory. One of the bills was named Dunlop India Limited (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertaking) Bill, 2016, which was the aim for the takeover of the Sahaganj factory. The bill stated that thousands of employees had not gotten their due money for a substantial period of time, accounting for financial crises on the employees of the company. Dunlop during this time had 550 workers. The state government announced that until the two companies had been formally acquired, each due worker of both the companies would be given ₹10,000 monthly.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Ghosal, Sutanuka (2016-03-20). "Mamata Banerjee's decision to acquire 'ruins of Ruia', Dunlop & Jessop, a well-thought-out strategy or poll gimmick?". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
- ^ "About us". Dunlop Tyre India. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ a b "Sahaganj". ONE Only Natural Energy. 2021-06-30. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ^ "Our Legacy". Dunlop Tyre India. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
- ^ Bandyopadhyay, Shoubhik (2017-01-16). "The Sorry Saga of a Past Glory, photo essay by Shoubhik Bandyopadhyay". PRIVATE Photo Review. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
- ^ a b Basak, Probal. "40 Years Ago...and now: The wheel turns full circle for Dunlop". www.business-standard.com. Archived from the original on 2024-11-02. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
- ^ a b c Basu, Manish (2011-10-25). "Dunlop's Sahaganj factory a drag on group: Ruia". mint. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
- ^ Adhikary, Smita (2025-05-19). "Dunlop Units Set To Begin Production Today". Business Standard.
- ^ "Dunlop India Limited: Public Enterprises & Industrial Reconstruction Department (PE & IR), Government of West Bengal". peir.wb.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2025-04-01. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ^ "Ruia Group : History". ruiagroup.co.in. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ^ "Pawan Ruia buys Dunlop, Falcon". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 2025-04-01. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ^ "Ruia Group Acquires Dunlop India and Falcon Tyres". Tyrepress. 2006-02-03. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ^ Ruia Group (2018-07-31). "Ruia takes over Dunlop, Falcon Tyres". Medium. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ^ Chattopadhyay, Suhrid Sankar (2016-03-16). "Assembly okays takeover of Dunlop, Jessop". Frontline. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
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