UPL Chief Shroff, 4 others get Padma awards for trade and industry

New Delhi, Five persons from the field of trade and industry have been conferred the prestigious Padma awards for their contributions.

UPL Chairman Rajnikant Devidas Shroff is among the ten recipients who would receive the coveted Padma Bhushan award, the third highest civillian honour, while four others will be given the Padma Shri, including one posthumously.

Born in Gujarat's Kutch, Shroff pioneered red phosphorus manufacturing in 1969, giving an impetus to the indigenous chemical industry.

In 1980s, UPL started to launch a number of crop protection products and currently is among the leading total crop solutions providers globally.

Among the Padma Shri awardees, Rajni Bector is the founder of the food company Cremica. Born in Karachi, Bector witnessed a huge demand for her desserts leading her to launch 'Cremica' in Ludhiana. The company sells products under the brands 'Mrs Bector's Cremica' and 'English Oven'.

Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat, another recipient of the Padma Shri, well known for being a founder of the iconic Lijjat Papads. She is the only survivor of a group of Gujarati housewives who founded the co-operative around 60 years ago.

Zoho Corporation CEO Sridhar Vembu has also received the Padma Shri. According to Forbes, he is the 59th richest Indian in the world with a net worth of $2.5 billion as of 2020.

Vembu along with his two brothers founded a software development house for network equipment providers called AdventNet, which was renamed Zoho Corporation in 2009, focusing on providing SaaS support to customer relationship management services.

As of 2020, he held an 88 per cent stake in the company.

P. Subramanian has been awarded a Padma award posthumously. Popularly known as the 'Gear Man', Subramanian, the founder of Shanthi Gears and Shanthi Social Service, passed away last month in Coimbatore. He was 78.