Prahlad Rai Agarwala

Prahalad Rai Agarwala is chairman and a founding member of Rupa and Company and its group companies. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2022 in the field of trade and industry, from West Bengal ^[1].

Studying while working

Agarwala was born on 11 May 1938 at Sikar in Rajasthan ^[2]. Coming from a simple background, he had to work in business while studying, and completed a law degree ^[2].

Rupa

In 1968 he and his brothers founded Rupa, with the idea of making good-quality garments affordable for every Indian ^[2]. They grew it from a small business into a national brand, and helped organise the hosiery industry in Bengal and beyond ^[2]. The company has created more than 2,000 direct jobs and many more indirect ones, and is present in more than 25 countries ^[2]. It was listed on the stock exchanges in 2011 and formed partnerships with Fruit of the Loom and French Connection ^[2]. He also set up a textile plant in Surat in 1991 and a steel plant in Durgapur in 2003 ^[2].

Giving back

In 1999 he set up the Sobhasaria Engineering College at Sikar, which teaches about 1,200 students a year ^[2]. Under his guidance a technical institute for vocational training opened in Kolkata in 2016, the Rupa Foundation began providing artificial limbs in 2020–21, and a scholarship was started at St Xavier’s University, Kolkata, in 2021 ^[2]. He was president of the Bharat Chamber of Commerce in 2007–08 and honorary consul of Colombia in Kolkata from 2014 to 2019 ^[2].