Birth anniversary of pioneer of Indian bicycle industry, Om Prakash Munjal
On August 26, 1928, Om Prakash Munjal, the doyen of the Indian bicycle Industry and founder & chairman of Hero Cycles, was born in Kamalia, now in Pakistan. Munjal, who started his entrepreneurship journey with his brothers at only 16 years old, went on to become the world's largest bicycle maker, and almost every second cycle sold in the country sported the Hero badge.
Munjal was the uncrowned bicycle king. At 75 lakh bicycles a year, Hero was the world's largest cycle maker in 2015, the year he died. He also sold components to BMW for its bikes. Besides the domestic market, Munjal has the vision for strategic acquisitions overseas to expand his company's footprint. It is worth noting that the news of Hero Cycles' first overseas acquisition, UK-based Avocet Sports for an undisclosed sum, came the day Munjal died (August 13, 2015).
His journey is a saga of struggle as well as inspiration. In 1944, aged 16, Munjal moved along with his family to Amritsar to start a bicycle spare parts business with his three brothers, Brijmohan Lall Munjal, Dayanand Munjal and Satyanand Munjal. The business was flourishing but the Partition played the spoilsport as it affected the business environment in Amritsar. The brothers then moved to Ludhiana and diversified from component manufacturing to complete bicycle manufacturing in 1956. It was the first bicycle manufacturing unit in India, producing 639 bicycles in the first year.
As the country needed affordable mobility for its growing population, the business started flourishing, pushing the demand for indigenous talent such as skilled engineers, technocrats and administrators.
In the 1980s, Hero Cycles became the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world and was registered with the Guinness Book of World Records in 1986 for this feat.
Munjal and his brothers expanded the Hero Group in various verticals, diversifying into sectors such as bicycle components, automotive, automotive components, IT, services, etc. Om Prakash, his brother Brijmohan and the next generation of the family were instrumental in establishing the erstwhile Hero Honda (now Hero Motocorp), a joint venture between Hero Cycles and Honda for manufacturing motorcycles that went on to become the world's largest motorcycle producer.
For his achievements, Munjal received recognition and honours from the Central Government. He also received the Udyog Rattan Award from the Punjab government for his outstanding contribution towards the economic development of the state.
Munjal was a noted philanthropist, too. His love for art and culture, and the Urdu language was well known to people in his circle.
