The Driving Force

Onkar Singh Kanwar’s father wanted to sell Apollo Tyres for Re 1 when he took over. From there on, he fought against hostile government policies, labor unrest, and steep competition to make it a billion dollar company. In an exclusive interview with Entrepreneur, the tyre tycoon takes a tour down the memory lane.

- Punita Sabharwal

 How did you start Apollo Tyres and that to in Kerala? I came back from the US in 1964 to join my father’s pipe business. The country was a controlled regime, so anything you made sold like a god’s gift. There was no question of quality or competition.

When we thought of expanding, we easily got the license to start a tyre manufacturing business but had no access to rubber. It was the (then) Chief Minister of Kerala (one of the biggest rubber producing states) who invited us to start the business there. In Kerala, the general population is very intelligent but union minded. This was just before the Emergency period (1975-77), but luckily we could set up the factory on time.

Did anything change post-Emergency?

Many companies like Coca-Cola and IBM ran into trouble (Large conglomerates were taken over). Our factory union also wanted the company to be nationalized. But my father shared a good relationship with the (then) Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and roped in (Fali) Nariman to fight the case. Though we managed to restore the company but ran into huge losses. My father was tired and once said, “I want to sell it for Re 1. If you want you can take it over.” No one in the family wanted to be in the tyre business.

Then what made you continue with the business?

I often wondered how companies like Hindustan Lever and Nestle could last for so many years. My dream was to build an institution like those.