Amira Nature Foods

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

B. D. Chanana^[7] was born in the Sargodha district of Punjab in the late 19th century into a prominent family of the Khatri caste. Unlike most children of his generation in Punjab, Chanana received a formal education until the age 15. He then quit school and was hired by a local railway company. After changing roles a few times and getting increasing responsibility, he eventually became station master in Gunjial.^[8]

FOUNDING STORY

Punjab is known for its fertile agricultural land, producing a variety of crops, including wheat, rice, sugarcane, and corn.^[9] B. D. Chanana’s work at the railway station allowed him to develop a large social network. In 1905, he met a family of local grain businessmen with whom he grew close. The family members were looking to grow their operations and identified Chanana as a suitable candidate for a business partner. Long interested in entrepreneurship, he took up the family’s offer and started working with them, setting up his own agricultural business.^[10] Within a decade, he had acquired the knowledge and experience to independently expand his operations. In 1915, he established Nav Bharat, an agro-commodities trading house, specializing in local legumes.^{[11] [12]}

The founder’s eldest son, Karam Chand Chanana,^[13] began working with his father at an early age and by the 1920s was leading the business operations. The business had grown rapidly and was now starting to expand its geographical reach, leading the family to relocate to Lahore. Seeking to diversify its business lines, Karam convinced his younger brother Bhola R Chanana to start working on a large salt mine in the nearby town of Khewra, which eventually became part of the family business’s operations.^[14]

GROWTH PHASE

By the 1940s, Karam’s leadership, the business was exporting foodstuffs as far away as Afghanistan.^[15] In August 1947, the Partition of British India occurred, creating a Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.^[16] Lahore, where most of the family lived and ran their business operations, became part of Pakistan. As Hindus, the Chanana family were greatly affected by the ensuing religious tensions and turmoil and; ultimately, they were forced to flee to newly independent India, leaving behind their home and the family business.^[17]

After settling in India, the Chanana family ended up in a poor financial situation.^[18] Motivated by a desire to help out his family, Karam took the risk of returning to his hometown. Camouflaged in traditional Punjabi Muslim clothing, he took the train back to Lahore. Knowing that the consequences could be deadly if anybody discovered that Karam was actually a Hindu, his Muslim friends in Lahore risked their own safety to take him in. After six months, Karam managed to sell his local assets and return to India with sufficient capital to reestablish the company in New Delhi.^[19]

By the 1960s, the family business was once again a success, this time in the Delhi market. In 1968, third-generation Anil Chanana, Karam’s son, joined the company and helped his father set up three wholesale outlets in Naya Bazaar, Delhi.^[20] In 1978, Anil took over the business, later changing its name to Amira. With an international outlook, Anil began focusing on exporting food grain from China and Southeast Asia.^[21] In 1993, he helped set up India’s first automated rice processing plant, which significantly improved the quality and efficiency of rice production in the country and helped propel what would become the Amira Group to the top of the Indian rice market. The plant, constructed by the Swiss company Bühler, enabled a degree of automated efficiency that had not previously been achieved in the region.^[22]

In 2006, Anil passed the leadership of the group on to his son Karan A Chanana — making the Amira group a four-generation family business.^[23] In 2010, Amira Food Ltd. announced plans to expand to the GCC market, the largest consumer market for basmati rice in the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates was the first country to welcome the group, which subsequently relocated its headquarters to Dubai.^[24] In 2012, it became the 12th Indian company to be publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange.^[25] Two years later, Amira acquired Basmati Rice GmbH, a premium rice distributor in Germany.^[26] In 2018, Amira International Finance B.V. was incorporated in the Netherlands as a wholly owned subsidiary.^[27]

TODAY

Today, the family business goes under the name Amira Nature Foods Ltd.^[28] It has grown into a global enterprise, run by the fourth generation of the Chanana family, who work with more than 3,600 associated farmers.^[29] Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,^[30] Amira Nature Foods has offices in India, Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The group fully owns 14 subsidiaries, whose operations span more than 60 countries.^{[31] [32] [33]} The Amira Group has always remained focused on its core field — food production.^[34] As of 2022, the business remains under the leadership of fourth-generation Karan A. Chanana.^{[35] [36]}