THE BUSINESSMAN WHO NEVER STOPPED LEARNING

What sets Harsh Mariwala apart is a bottom-up approach—plans are developed at lower levels of the organisation and funneled up

- BY KRISHNA GOPALAN

When he was in his early 20s, an age at which clarity of purpose is a rare quality among men and women fresh out of college, Harsh Mariwala had made up his mind about what he wanted to be: a businessman, and there was no way he would report to an outsider.

Having graduated in commerce from Sydenham College in Mumbai, then known as Bombay, Mariwala steadfastly followed his ambition. He started his career in 1971 with Bombay Oil Industries Ltd., a commodities company controlled by his family, before he created Marico Ltd. in 1990.

The timing for the start of Marico was opportune. The consumer goods maker was carved out of Bombay Oil just one year ahead of the launch of economic reforms that set the economy free from a bewildering labyrinth of licences and controls that had shackled business for more than four decades.

Under Mariwala, Marico—maker of Parachute coconut hair oil, Saffola cooking oil, male grooming brand Set Wet and Livon, a range of haircare products for women—has become a name to reckon with in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry. It had sales of ₹9,653 crore and a net profit of ₹1,502 crore in financial year 2024. It had a market value of ₹78,537 crore at the stock’s closing price of ₹606 on March 13.

The company has a presence in “over 25 countries across emerging markets of Asia and Africa” and “touches the lives of one out of every three Indians, through its portfolio of brands,” says the company’s website.

Now 73 years old, Mariwala quietly jots down a few points before reminiscing about his career, years in Bombay Oil and the launch and growth of Marico.

In many ways, the man is an oddity. For one thing, Mariwala does not have an MBA degree, a fact he says makes him more open-minded and willing to learn on the job. He consciously hires people he reckons are smarter than himself and ensures everyone puts the interests of the company first.