The founder of Walchand Group was a maverick. Hailing from a Jain family of Wankaner in Gujarat, Walchand had made Solapur—in the erstwhile Bombay Presidency—his home. A restless entrepreneur, he kept giving shape to ideas which were truly pioneering and visionary for their time. Seth Hirachand established India’s first modern shipyard, set up the country’s first car factory—Premier Automobiles (which made Fiat cars in India)—near Mumbai and was also a major sponsor of India’s first homegrown news agency, Free Press of India, which he co-founded with Annie Besant and M.R. Jayakar.
