"What really decided the issue of my future in 1935 was the fact that I was now married--to a very charming young lady called Madhuram. I was soon the juniormost member (Bill Assistant) of the staff of the Indo-Commercial Bank. It was 1935, and among my fellow-clerks in the Vijayanagaram branch, where I started off, was TS Narayanaswami,'Abboy,' soon to become my long-term business associate, my most discerning adviser, and by a sort of natural progression, my closest friend.
Chemplast Sanmar, Mettur.
Marine Terminal Facility, Chemplast Sanmar, Cuddalore.
TCI Sanmar Chemicals S.A.E. Port Said, Egypt.
When I look back on my involvement with industry, I marvel at the chain of circumstances by which I came to contribute to the building of a substantial and successful group. My forebears were bankers. My father took the first cautious step into the terrain of manufacture for the oddest reason. He wanted each of his eight sons to have a flourishing and independent concern. He launched my career (while himself remaining a banker) by buying the first of our factories: Nanco Printing Inks."
- KSN
Within a twenty-mile radius of Kallidaikurichi were four or five families in the forefront of the development of modern Indian industry: the TVS family, Anantharamakrishnan of the Simpson group, KR Sundaram Iyer's and Eswara Iyer's families, and the SNN family, which set up many of its factories in the state. |
KSN was an entrepreneur by nature. He gained expertise in manufacturing through hands-on experience in a wide spectrum of industry segments ranging from printing ink to PVC resins.
He started his working career in 1935 at Indo-Commercial Bank founded by his family. His very first independent enterprise was the takeover of NANCO, a printing ink factory. Later, he acquired the South India Rubber Factory in Coimbatore. KSN then graduated to the manufacture of calcium carbide, and later cement, an industry where his experience and expertise were matched by few other entrepreneurs.
KSN crossed an important milestone when he spent more than a year in Denmark in 1946-47 and acquired considerable technical knowledge in the cement manufacturing process.
Sanmar Sonnet
Oil/ product tanker.
The India Cements Ltd, Sankar Nagar factory.
He was associated with the top management of India Cements for about 35 years, during which period the company witnessed substantial diversification and expansion of its production capacity in its cement units.
A turning point in KSN's life was his foray into the manufacture of PVC resin, a raw material of great versatility. This was the time he realised the importance of acquiring the latest technologies in manufacturing. The signing of a technical and financial collaboration agreement with BF Goodrich of the USA led to the dawn of an era of joint ventures for the Group.