Peerless Group
Company typePublic
IndustryInsurance, Financial services, Travel, Hotel, Real estate
Founded25 October 1932
HeadquartersKolkata, India
Key people
D. Basu, Chairman
Sunil Kanti Roy (1944-2022), Managing Director[1]
Total assetsRs 2,500 crore[2]
SubsidiariesPeerless General Finance & Investment Company Ltd[3]
Websitewww.peerless.co.in

Peerless Group is an Indian business conglomerate headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal.

History

The company was established in 1932 by industrialist Radhashyam Roy (then a School Teacher) in Narayanganj, Bangladesh.[2][4] The company shifted base to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1935.

Also in 1932, he along with his friend and co-promoter Kali Kumar Chatterjee registered Hollywood Pictures Limited and later as an extension to film-making business, he built Jayshree Cinema Hall at Baranagar which was slated to open in 1946. Also in 1943, he registered Indian National Bank and was eager to convert it into a scheduled bank. But, due to communal riots ahead of Partition of India delayed the plan. But, both the cinema hall and the bank went into liquidation. After the liquidation Peerless Life Insurance became the flagship company.[5]

The company was nationalized in 1956 and merged with Life Insurance Corporation.[5]

Post-liberalization, Peerless General Finance & Investment Company Limited was established as a Registered Residuary Non-banking Company. Currently, it has subsidiaries like Peerless Hospital, Bengal Peerless (real estate), Kaizen Holidays, Peerless Hotels, Peerless Sports Club and Peerless Securities.

In 2022, Sunil Kanti Roy, the Managing Director of the Group and a Padma Shri recipient, died.[6] He had assumed the leadership of the conglomerate from his elder brother, B.K. Roy, in 1985.[7]

References

  1. ^ "The New Face of Peerless". Times of India. 13 February 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Peerless shelves JV plan in MF venture". The Economic Times. 11 February 2011.
  3. ^ "Non-finance business to drive growth of Peerless Group". The Hindu. 28 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Peerless Group chalks out fresh roadmap". The Hindu. 14 December 2007.
  5. ^ a b Bandyopadhyay, Tamal (6 June 2014). Sahara: The Untold Story. Jaico Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-8495-546-0.
  6. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Peerless Group MD S K Roy dies, Mamata offers condolences". www.millenniumpost.in. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
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