Dharmsinh Desai

Dharmsinh Dadubhai Desai (30 October 1916 – 9 June 1980) was an Indian politician, industrialist, and educationist. A member of the Indian National Congress, he served as a Member of Parliament for the Kaira (now Kheda) constituency in Gujarat from 1971 to 1977.^[2][3] He was the founder of the APAR Group and Dharmsinh Desai University.^[4]

Dharmsinh was born in Bhadran, Anand district, Gujarat. His father, Dadubhai P. Desai, was involved in local administration in Nadiad and also in legislative assembly. He was the cousin of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and worked very closely with him through the freedom struggle. He studied at Elphinstone College, Bombay, followed by Fergusson College and the Royal Institute of Science. Post this he completed his engineering degrees in Electrical & Mechanical from Bombay University, Kalina campus. Throughout his academic career, he graduated with distinction at the top of his class. He became a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India) and held memberships in professional organisations such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).^[5]

Dharmsinh married Shantaben in 1938, and together they had one son, Narendra, 1940. He authored five books and served as the editor of Arya Swapatra, a farmers’ bulletin.^[5]

Dharamsinh Desai began his professional career working at the Ahmedabad Electric Company’s power plants and later in the power distribution systems of BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport) in Bombay. He later started a private business focused on the repair of transformers and electrical systems. After the Second World War, Desai was among the early Indian entrepreneurs to travel to countries such as Germany and Japan, where he secured distribution agreements with various international manufacturers, including Mercedes-Benz, General Electric, and Yanmar.^[5]

In 1942, he founded Hindustan Electric Company (HEC), which focused on manufacturing electrical equipment. The company later entered into a technology and equity partnership with Brown Boveri Ltd, a Swiss firm, and was renamed Hindustan Brown Boveri Limited (HBBL). HBBL became one of the early companies involved in electrical equipment manufacturing in India and was publicly listed in 1949. Desai served as the company’s Managing Director and later as Chairman. HBBL was eventually integrated into Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) in India.^[5]

Desai held positions in various industrial and governmental bodies. He chaired the Development Council for Heavy Electrical Industries under the Ministry of Industry from 1966 to 1970 and served on the Committee for Engineering Industries of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation. He was also a founding member of the Electrical Research and Development Association (ERDA), an organization established to support testing and research for the electrical industry in India.^[5]

In 1958, Desai left Hindustan Brown Boveri Limited (HBBL) and established a new enterprise, Power Cables Pvt. Ltd., which was later renamed APAR Industries Limited. The company began manufacturing aluminium conductors and was among the early producers of such products in India. In 1968, it introduced transformer oil in collaboration with the U.S.-based Sun Oil Company, marketed under the brand name POWEROIL.^[5]

APAR Industries later expanded into the manufacturing of aluminium and alloy conductors, specialty and renewable cables, and transformer oils. The company exports its products to markets in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the SAARC region.^[6][7]

In 2004, leadership of APAR Industries transitioned to the third generation of the Desai family. Kushal Desai serves as Chairman and Managing Director, and Chaitanya N. Desai as Managing Director.^[6][7]

Dharamsinh Desai was introduced to politics at an early age. His father was involved in local administration and served in the legislative assembly. His uncles, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Vithalbhai Patel, were prominent figures in India's independence movement. Influenced by their political engagement, Desai participated in several mass satyagrahas during the freedom struggle. He adopted Khadi clothing alongside his family members, a practice he continued throughout his life.^[5]

In the years following India's independence, Desai expressed concern about the limited presence of industrialists in the Indian Parliament. He believed that economic development and industrialisation were essential for national progress. Motivated by this perspective, he entered public office and was elected as a Member of Parliament from Kheda, Gujarat. He served in the Fifth Lok Sabha from 1971 to 1975 and was re-elected in 1977 after the Emergency period.^[5]

During his tenure, Desai was a member of several parliamentary committees, including the Consultative Committees on Industrial Development, Science and Technology, Heavy Industries, Petroleum and Chemicals, and Atomic Energy. He also served on Select Committees related to Foreign Exchange, Direct Taxes, and the Customs Bill. While representing the Kheda constituency, he was involved in various infrastructure and development initiatives, including a canal system that contributed to the growth of agriculture in the region.^[5]

He was involved in education and rural development through various trusts and institutions. In 1968, Dharmsinh Desai established the Dharmsinh Desai Institute of Technology in Nadiad, which later became Dharmsinh Desai University, the first independent university in Gujarat. The institution, initially focused on engineering education and then added programs in pharmacy, management and dental sciences.^[8] In 2016, expansion to build a Medical College was taken. He also established schools, including Shantaben Dharmsinh Desai High School in Vallabh Vidyanagar and a girls' school in Udwada, besides many schools in Nadiad.^[5]

He passed away on June 9, 1980.^[5]

• Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website