Usually, Ranjit Pratap’s name features in the media when there’s a gala vintage car rally in Chennai. A passionate collector, Pratap, 70, has a large collection of vintage cars in his garage, in his vast estate across the Adyar river in Chennai, on a road bearing his name. But quietly and pretty much under the radar, his Rayala group has been growing its various businesses.

The ₹700 crore closely held group is all set to celebrate its diamond jubilee this month. “There are not many businesses which will be 75 years old under the same family management,” says Pratap, adding that it’s a proud moment for the group which was founded by his grandfather, Rajagopal Naidu, who started an automobile workshop in erstwhile Madras in the 1920s.

Naidu was the first to introduce bus services from Tirupati uphill to Tirumala temple, when there were no major motorised public transport systems for the pilgrims to reach the hilltop for darshan. Interestingly, its first trip had Naidu himself behind the wheel! 

From typewriters to toothbrushes

Rayala Corporation, the group’s flagship, was founded in the 1940s to distribute typewriters. Later, in 1956, Rayala started a joint venture with the Swedish company Facit AB to make the Halda-brand of typewriters, and later under the Facit brand, a business which eventually shuttered with the advent of computers. At its peak, the company made typewriters in 23 languages. Today, the group has grown through three generations and has interests in a variety of sectors, ranging from engineering and real estate to farming, making components for defence ancillaries to aerospace and toothbrush manufacturing for Procter & Gamble.

The Rayala name pops up in different parts of Chennai — the Rayala Techno Park on the Old Mahabalipuram Road has attracted many IT majors to set up shop. Off Anna Salai, the city’s main artery in the heart of the city stands the large, 10-storied Rayala Towers, a large plot which Pratap inherited from his grandfather, and now occupied by various offices.

Of the various business ventures that Pratap runs, it’s the toothbrush manufacturing unit, Rialto Enterprises, that is the largest by far. The unit, in which he has invested around ₹200 crore over the years, makes a gargantuan 570-600million toothbrushes a year under contract with P&G for its Oral-B toothbrush. This unit, among the largest in the world for toothbrushes, in the suburbs of Chennai, employs around 1,000 people and its revenues of around ₹550 crore a year contribute to the bulk of the group’s revenues. Around 55-60 per cent of its output is exported to 150 countries around the world through P&G.

Pratap’s venture into making toothbrushes was happenstance. Initially, in 2004, he had a joint venture with the German company Braun to make shavers, epilators and kitchen machines, all exported back to Braun, then owned by Gillette. The unit was on the verge of making steam irons as well when P&G took over Gillette. P&G wanted Pratap’s unit to focus solely on making toothbrushes as it wanted to consolidate its global production in India.

Along the way, Pratap entered defence production to supply to small arms factories of the government. He also collaborated with various overseas companies for precision parts; with a US company, Wabco (later acquired by German auto components giant ZF), to make sheet metal parts and sub-assemblies for braking devices; and with Carr Lane to make high precision maintenance parts for jet engines, most of which goes back to the US company. It also supplies parts to Tata Aviation.

Venture into food processing

But Pratap’s latest venture is far away from precision engineering — in food processing. The group owns large tracts of land near Madurai in Tamil Nadu, and grows a lot of cashews, which are sold to traders in Kollam, Kerala. Now, the group has tied up with German company, Lorenz Bahlsen Snack World, to set up a food processing plant to cater to domestic and the export market.

A peanut processing plant, as part of this joint venture, has been set up in Rajkot, Gujarat, and later it plans a cashew processing unit in TN. “The best peanuts are found in Gujarat, but for now we’re doing only the first step that is refining the peanuts and sending it to Germany for processing,” explains Pratap. Investments are small initially. But, as he says, “We will slowly ramp it up. All our business I don’t do huge investments. We are very cautious, and we invest step by step,” he says. 

Pratap looks back with pride on the growth of the Rayala group. “We have excelled in every niche industry that we focussed on. We have partnered with some of the best companies in the world and been their critical partner in India. Even now there are companies that reach out to the Rayala group from different parts of the globe to explore business opportunities. This remarkable equity that we enjoy has been the result of the vision and ethics as embodied by the founders of the group. I proudly carry forward the legacy today.” says Pratap.