East India Distilleries Parry Limited is a public company headquartered in Chennai, South India that has been in business for more than 225 years. It has many firsts to its credit, including the manufacturing of fertilizers for the first time in the Indian subcontinent. The company is currently engaged in the manufacture and marketing of sugar and bio-products. Parry's is the oldest surviving mercantile name in Chennai.
Origin and history
EID Parry is one of the oldest business entities of the Indian subcontinent and was originated by Thomas Parry, a Welshman who came to India in the late 1780s. On 17 July 1788, he started a business of banking and piece goods. By 1819, a partnership firm named "Parry and Dare" Company was founded by Thomas Parry and John William Dare. Parry's Corner, one of the most prominent central business districts of Chennai, derives its name from Parry. Over a period of time, the business established by Parry continued to grow, and its flagship company EID Parry emerged. In 1908 Parry & Company set-up ‘The Pottery’ unit in Ranipettai. Over the years it was named as "Parryware" Parry & Company Limited and East India Distileries & Sugars Limited were merged to form EID Parry India Limited. In its more than 200-year existence, this house remained active and operated many businesses. The Murugappa Group took over EID Parry in 1981 from financial & public institutions such as Life Insurance Corporation Of India, United Assurance Co, and Unit Trust of India.
Businesses
Sugar
EID Parry set up India's first sugar plant at Nellikuppam in 1842. It was India's first private sector company to perform Research & Development. The sugar division contributes to over 65% of EID Parry's turnover, and around 20% of the sugar production in Tamil Nadu is from EID. The Nellikuppam Integrated Sugar Complex has a crushing capacity of 6500 metric tonnes per day, its co-generation facilities produce 24.5 MW of power, and its distillery facilities produce 75 kilolitres per day. EID Parry has 7 plants in the country situated at Nellikuppam in Cuddalore district, Pugalur in Karur district, Kurumbur in Pudukottai district, Pettavaithalai in Trichy district, Pondicherry in Puducherry, Haliyal in Karnataka and Sankili in Andhra Pradesh. The combined crushing capacity of all seven plants is 32,500 Metric Tonnes of cane per day. The Pudukottai unit of EID Parry was built at a site that had been rejected as a factory site at the request of the Indian government. It became one of the firm's largest revenue generators. The Pugalur unit was acquired by EID Parry in 1992. The co-generation facilities at Pugalur can produce 22.5 MW of power, and it has a cane crushing capacity of 4000 metric tonnes per day. The Pettavaithalai factory was bought in 1998 and can co-generate 19.6 MW of power. Its cane crushing capacity is 3000 metric tonnes per day. Recently, EID Parry acquired the sugar plants of GMR Group in states like Karnataka and Andhra. The plants at Haliyal and Sankili were merged with EID Parry on 1 April 2012, and the plant at Ramdurg in Karnataka is operated on a lease basis.
The bio-products business makes eco-friendly products from natural resources. Currently, the core of this business is the Neemazal range of products made from neem seed kernel at the Company's production facility at Thyagavalli near Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu. The Bangalore R & D group supports the business by developing new formulations and delivery mechanisms for the application of the Neemazal range of products. New products from this company include AbdA, SpreadMax, Yieldsmor, and Beemax. The company is now expanding its range of products away from Azadirachtin, its core product extracted from neem seed kernel.
Subsidiaries
Parrys Sugar Industries Limited
Acquired from GMR group, EID Parry holds a 65% stake. It merged with EID Parry on 1 April 2012.
Operations have been suspended at this 100% EID Parry subsidiary since 31 March 2000.
Parryware
Parryware is now a 100% subsidiary of Roca Sanitario S.A. and is known as Roca Bathroom Products Private Limited. It was created as a subsidiary of EID Parry called Parryware Private Limited, then became a joint venture between EID Parry and Roca called Parryware Roca India Private Limited after Roca purchased 45% of its shares. EID Parry later divested its remaining holdings in Parryware Roca India Private Limited to Roca.
Parry Confectionery
Parry Confectionery was sold to Lotte Confectionery Co. Ltd, Korea in 2004. It is now known as Lotte India Corporation Limited, and manufactures Lotte Chocopie, a popular snack across India, along with Coffy Bite, Caramilk, Eclairs and Lacto King.
MEL Systems and Services Electronics Limited
1983: Murugappa Group established Murugappa Electronics Limited
1993: EID Parry merged Murugappa Electronics Limited with itself as Murugappa Industrial & Technical Services
1995:
*January: EID Parry de-merged Murugappa Industrial & Technical Services as MEL Systems and Services Electronics Limited
*December: Murugappa Group exited from electronics business after EID Parry divested MEL Systems and Services Electronics Limited