NEW DELHI: Hero Cycles on Sunday celebrated its founders day in Ludhiana by remembering the company's founder late OP Munjal, known as much for his visionary entrepreneurship skills as for his philanthropy and love of Urdu poetry in the city's literary circles.
The Munjal family and guests present for the grandeur celebration paid rich tributes to Munjal, who rose from being a 16-year-old bicycle spare parts manufacturer in 1944's Amritsar to becoming the owner of the largest cycle manufacturing business in the country.
"It took sheer will, integrity, grit and determination to successfully negotiate a shaky business climate on the eve of India's independence and the early years after. There was the tragic event of the partition to overcome. Fortunes could have been destroyed, were it for a lesser man.
"We are proud to be part of this tradition by birth. We would like to congratulate and thank all the members of this fraternity that form part of the workforce at Hero Cycles and all those who have retained faith in our products. We hope to continue to be inspired to innovate and strengthen our business and social responsibilities to greater heights in the coming future", said Pankaj M Munjal, Chairman HMC, A Hero Motors Company.
Hero Cycles was formally incorporated as a company in 1956 and Munjal and his brothers soon moved to assembling entire bicycles at their own unit in Ludhiana.
Within three decades, Hero had entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest single producer of bicycles a day and upwards of 40 per cent of market share in domestic cycle sales.
Today, Hero Cycles has acquisitions in Sri Lanka and the UK, while being invested in well-known and diverse parts-manufacturing and is constantly scouting for new opportunities to expand.
Maruti Suzuki former MD Jagdish Khattar presided over the function as the honourable chief guest.
Other notable attendees at the celebration included past and present bureaucrats, statesmen and fellow industrialists from Punjab and across the country.