According to research reports and statistics, Indian family-owned companies have delivered an average 13.9 percent annual return since 2006 compared with six percent returns generated by their non-family-owned peers. Yes, that’s true and this is why many business entrepreneurs believe in ‘family matters’. India as a nation ranks third in terms of the number of family-owned businesses (FBs), according to the Credit Suisse Family 1000 study. Another fact is that the markets seemed to favor FBs in India, and this is evident from the stock performance. Also, they were more aggressive when it came to acquisitions.

FBs comprise 300 of the top-500 Indian companies, they earn $670 billion of combined revenues, comprise 74 percent of manufacturing output and employ more than 5.2 million people. It is not commonly known that FBs lead even in respect of the environment, social and governance (ESG) scores in India. Let’s have a look at the top five FBs that climbed the ladder in the year 2020.

Borosil
Borosil is India’s most trusted glassware brand, led by Shreevar Kheruka (Managing Director). When the organization was started in 1962, it was formed to acquire the undertaking of the Industrial and Engineering Apparatus Company. The name was inspired by borosilicate glass, the company’s main product category. Borosil also started using the Corning brand and until 1988, Corning was the majority shareholder. That year, Corning divested its shareholdings, making the Kheruka family the majority owners of Borosil. In 2013, the Kherukas came up with a new business model that allowed them to diversify from a predominantly laboratory glassware company to becoming a complete lifestyle brand with a large product range such as serving ware, kitchen appliances, storage containers, hydration bottles, kitchenware, and much more. It was this diversification that made Borosil a household name that it is today and took its turnover to Rs. 635 crore in 2018-19. Shares of Borosil surged to a record high after the solar glass maker announced its plans to raise funds through a qualified institutional placement. The floor price of the QIP issue was set at Rs. 133.19 apiece, a discount of 15.4 percent to Monday’s closing level of Rs. 157.5, according to an exchange filing late on Monday, December 15, 2020. The Board of Directors of the Company have decided to explore various options of fundraising for its company’s expansion plan and have decided to seek approval of the shareholders to raise funds for the Company to the extent of Rs. 500 crore.

Kent RO Systems
Started in 1999, Kent RO Systems, an Indian multinational healthcare products company (especially known for its water purifier segment) has grown exponentially throughout the years. The patented technology, Kent’s Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purifier, has helped Kent RO Systems to grow. According to Mahesh Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Kent RO Systems, the company is expecting a 20 percent growth in its turnover at Rs. 1,200 crore this fiscal despite coronavirus-related disruptions in the market. Kent RO Systems has grown stupendously since its inception, but the major turning point in the business was when Varun Gupta, son of Mahesh joined the business. He suggested building a strong presence for the organization leveraging media promotion. It was then both thought for business expansion and took a mutual decision to enter TV media for promotion. Mahesh convinced the Dream Girl of Bollywood – Hema Malini to start endorsing the brand. After she started promoting the brand on TV, the company’s business took off-speed and was functioning at an altogether different level.

Mahesh believes in hard work. According to him, an individual should have a passion to work and not the passion to earn money. This is the attitude that has helped the businessman to excel as a professional. Mahesh also accepts that it’s his 15 years of experience that has taught teaches him to serve customers with great satisfaction. The growth story of the company is an inspiration for the first generation entrepreneurs and the FBs. According to Varun Kent’s customer-centric approach is the success mantra of the organization.

Nilkamal
The story started in the year 1981 when Vamanrai Parekh (Chairman) and Sharad Parekh (Chairman) decided to step out of the family business of manufacturing buttons and pivot to making plastics, which was gaining prominence in the market. The brothers started a small business of manufacturing plastic household items at a rented premise in Powai, Mumbai, including buckets, baskets, mugs, and much more. This is how Nilkamal Plastics took birth, which later became Nilkamal Limited. Over the last four decades, Nilkamal has garnered a strong legacy and gained the consumer’s trust. Hence began Nilkamal’s furniture manufacturing vertical. Today, with over 3,000+ distributors who supply Nilkamal products to 50+ stores and 19,000 retail points, and with a sales team of more than 400 who manage its B2B segment, the company rakes in a turnover of more than Rs. 2,200 crore. Even though the company witnessed a steep drop in the graph due to the coronavirus pandemic, yet it expects a decent growth for the year 2020. Nilkamal has reported a total income of Rs. 253.25 crores during the period ended June 30, 2020. During the period ended March 31, 2020, the company reported a total income of Rs. 564.13 crores.

TVS Motor
Thiruvengudi Sundaram Iyengar belonging from a Tamil Brahmin family had worked as a lawyer, in Indian Railways, and in a bank before starting his own bus service in 1911. TVS Sons & Ltd was started in the same year. Not just that but the TVS Gas Plant, Madras Auto Service Ltd, and Sundaram Motors were started by him. The business turned into an empire and is still being run by the family itself. TV Sundaram had eight children, Soundaram, Rajam, Doraiswamy, Santhanam, Amu Amaal, Ranga Ammaa, Srinivasan, and Krishna. The four sons became an important part of the business and thus there are four main branches of the company. They have started companies in fields like textile, electronics, automotive and in places like Chennai, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Spain, UK, and Iran. The TVS Group has always been known for the decades of trust it has built with its stakeholders and to keep it continuing the group even worked on ‘family arrangement’ that is expected to further strengthen the business while continuing to engage with its stakeholders even more effectively. TVS Motor Company reported a revenue of Rs. 4,617 Crores in the second quarter of 2020-21 as against Rs. 4,353 crores in the second quarter of 2019-20 registering a growth of 6 per cent.

Vinati Organics
Established in 1989, Vinati Organics Limited (VOL) is a speciality chemical company, focusing on manufacturing speciality chemicals and organic intermediaries. VOL is the world’s largest manufacturer of niche chemicals Isobutyl Benzene (IBB) and 2-Acrylamido 2 Methylpropane Sulfonic Acid (ATBS). Established by Vinod Saraf and under his aegis, the firm has etched a dedicated name for itself in the industry. Today the company clocks Rs. 1,000 crore in revenue. But, VOL may not have reached these heights if not for Vinod’s daughter Vinati. Till 2006, despite being a market leader in IBB and venturing into ATBS, the business was making just Rs. 2 crore profit and was unable to produce the right quality of ATBS. Vinati teamed up with her father, and she started from the ground up, spending time in various VOL divisions and learning the ins-and-outs of its numerous business functions. It was Vinati who contributed her best to bring a consultant on board and figured out a way to cut costs and improve productivity by optimizing batch timings. This resulted in increased capacity with minimal investment. This enabled VOL to ramp up its production of ATBS to 25,000 tonnes, becoming the world’s biggest manufacturer of the chemical. Vinati Organics expects to see revenues - from its new plant of Butyl Phenol. Though the CAPEX for Butyl Phenol was done last year and the firm expects total revenue from this CAPEX to be Rs. 400 crore. Apart from that, the firm has announced another CAPEX of Rs. 200 crores which it will be investing over the next one year with a total revenue potential of Rs. 300 crore starting from FY22 and FY23.