Background
Badridas Goenka was born on 29 July 1883 in Calcutta to Ramachandra Goenka.
Badridas Goenka was born on 29 July 1883 in Calcutta to Ramachandra Goenka.
In 1905, Badridas graduated from the Presidency College, Calcutta - he was the first Marwari to graduate.
The Goenkas were a Marwari family which hailed from Dundlod in Rajputana. In college, Badridas developed an interest in physics and chemistry. Badridas joined the family business after graduation and was in 1910, elected Secretary of the Marwari Association.
This resulted in an uncompromising political rivalry between the two.
However, in 1930, Goenka declined an offer to be a part of the Viceroy"s executive council. In 1928, Badridas was part of the Hilton-Young Commission which investigated the financial situation in India.
In 1930, he was appointed a director of the Imperial Bank of India and in 1933, he became Chairman, the first Indian to hold the post. He was elected for a second term in 1941 and subsequently, served till 1955, when the Imperial Bank of India was nationalized and became the State Bank of India.
Badridas served as the first Chairman of the State Bank of India from 1955 to 1957.
During the Bengal Famine, the two worked together to provide relief measures in the affected areas. When his term as President of FICCI came to an end, Badridas retired from all business and voluntary associations. Badridas died on 26 February 1973.
His death was mourned at a special meeting of the prominent citizens of Calcutta.
