Our legendary Founder, Sri. Karumuttu Thiagarajan Chettiar was an exceptional visionary, who not only excelled as an entrepreneur but also demonstrated a remarkable commitment to philanthropy. He started his career as an assistant editor in the Ceylon English daily “Morning Leader”.
His advocacy for the rights of Tamil laborers in Ceylon’s plantations prompted a governmental response and significant improvements in their working conditions.
With an equal prowess as a formidable industrialist, he set up Meenakshi Mills Ltd in Madurai in 1921, subsequently expanding the business to encompass a total of 18 textile mills. Additionally, he diversified successfully into various sectors including banking (establishing Bank of Madura, now part of ICICI Bank), insurance (founding Madura Insurance, later merged into United India Insurance after nationalization), and media with the newspaper “Tamil Nadu.”