Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd.

  • Stephen George Balmer and Alexander Lawrie were two Scottish entrepreneurs, who founded the Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd. at Kolkata on 1st February, 1867. The founding fathers had formed the Company as an ‘Agency House’ and the agency business was primarily in trading. 
  • The range of business spanned over Tea, Shipping, Insurance, Banking, Trading and Manufacturing. The initial products included tea leaves, tea seeds, kerosene, pharmaceuticals, wines and lubricating oils. 
  • It was the sole agent of Calcutta to manufacture one of the first Scotch whiskies – Lafroaig Islay. 
  • A significant part of Balmer Lawrie's business was managing and transferring Indian military pensions to those who returned to Britain post Independence.
  • The Company’s presence in diverse business is its strength. It became a private limited company in 1924 with a paid up share capital of ₹40 lakhs, a public limited company in 1936 and then a Government of India Enterprise in 1972. With the abolition of the Managing Agency System, the Company became a public sector enterprise when Balmer Lawrie’s holding company, Indo-Burma Petroleum Co. Ltd. (IBP) was nationalized in 1972.
  • Today, Balmer Lawrie is a Mini-Ratna-I Public Sector Enterprise, under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. 
  • It comprises of eight Strategic Business Units – Industrial Packaging, Greases & Lubricants, Chemicals, Travel & Vacations, Logistics Infrastructure, Logistics Services, Cold Chain and Refinery & Oil Field Services, with offices spread all over India and abroad. Its specialty lies in lubricant manufacturing. 
  • Balmer Lawrie was the first to set up a manufacturing facility abroad and establish many joint venture companies when the economic liberalization process began in India. 
  • Balmer Lawrie has grown enormously since its inception and has become the market leader in Steel Barrels, Industrial Greases & Specialty Lubricants, Corporate Travel and Logistics Services. The company has left a mark of its own at every step of its remarkable corporate journey. Balmer Lawrie’s long journey has been a testimony of the vision and commitment of its founders and leaders.

https://www.balmerlawrie.com/static/history_edited

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balmer_Lawrie

The making of next Balmer Lawrie by Swapan Kr. Mukherjee and Viren Sinha

The Company Logo



The founders and the building



Head Office -1909







Some pictures from the present Head Office at 21, Netaji Subhas Road
Kolkata - 700 001

At the entrance

The present Building

At the entrance









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