T. V. Sundaram Iyengar Biography: Thirukkurungudi Indian industrialist and pioneer of the automotive, Vengaram Sundaram Iyengar (22 March 1877 – 28 April 1955). In 1911, he founded T. V. Sundaram Iyengar & Sons, a bus company that subsequently diversified into automobile production and became the parent company of one of India’s largest business conglomerates, the TVS Group.
Beginning his career as a lawyer, he eventually became one of the most successful industrialists of his period. TVS Motors, founded by his son T. S. Doraiswamy, serves as the group’s principal business. He established the groundwork for the road transport industry in the erstwhile Madras Presidency by establishing the first bus service in the state. Thus, he established the TVS group, which now includes the automotive industry, vehicle services, and financial services.
Birth and Early Life
Early in 1877, T. V. Sundaram Iyengar was born into a Tamil Brahmin family in Thirukkurungudi, Tamil Nadu, India. Sundaram Iyengar began his career as an attorney. According to his father’s desires, he worked for the Indian Railways and then a bank.
Career
Sundaram Iyengar quit his employment and entered the motor transport industry because he had always had a passion for business. He established the first bus service in Madurai in 1912. In 1923, he founded the T.V. Sundaram Iyengar and Sons Group of Companies, laying the groundwork for the “TVS Group” During the Second World War, when Madras Presidency faced a severe petrol shortage, he designed and launched TVS Gas Plant to meet the needs of the people. Besides Madras Auto Service Limited and Sundaram Motors Limited, he also founded factories for rubber retreading. In the 1950s, Madras Auto Service Limited was the largest General Motors distributor.
Thus, a business that began as a hobby of a solitary man evolved into a thriving family enterprise. Four distinct divisions began to operate under the moniker ‘TVS’. TVS Group is the greatest automobile distribution company in India at the present time. It has a revenue of $40,000,000,000. 40,000 people are employed by the organisation, which operates in diverse sectors including automotive component manufacturing, automotive dealerships, electronics, and finance. Additionally, they provide IT solutions and services.
In addition to being an industrialist, T.V. Sundaram Iyengar was an art patron and futurist. Under the auspices of Mahatma Gandhi, he remarried his adolescent widowed daughter. Rajaji, a senior Congress official, praised Sundaram Iyengar for announcing his retirement and passing the business on to his offspring. T.V. Sundaram has five sons and three daughters, and the male family members shared the business. T.S Santhanam, the youngest son of T.V Sundaram, is the founder of ‘Sundaram Finance’ and is considered the ‘Father of the Truck Finance Industry in India.
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Personal Life
T. V. Sundaram Iyengar married Lakshmi Ammal, and the couple had a total of eight children, including five sons and three daughters. T. S. Doraiswamy, their firstborn, died at a young age. Mahatma Gandhi compelled T. V. Sundaram Iyengar to embrace his daughter T. S. Soundaram, a teenage widow who remarried social reformer G. Ramachandran. T. S. Sundaram subsequently joined Gandhi in the Indian independence movement. Later, a commemorative postage stamp was issued in her honour.
In addition to being a successful businessman, T. V. Sundram Iyengar was also an arts patron. Rajaji, a senior statesman and the governor-general of India at the time, extolled his retirement and transfer of the business to his sons.
Final Years and Death
In the early hours of April 28, 1955, he passed away at his home in Kodaikanal at the age of 78, leaving behind his wife, four sons, and three daughters.
