CORPORATE

‘Phantom of Bombay House’ Pallonji Mistry passes away at 93

Pallonji Mistry, the chairman of Mumbai-based conglomerate Shapoorji Pallonji, died at his residence in Mumbai on early Tuesday morning. Mr Mistry was 93 years old at the time of his passing. He passed away in his sleep, company officials told news agency PTI. 

Mr Mistry was the largest individual shareholder in the Tata Group with 18.4 per cent holding in the conglomerate and is also known as the Phantom of Bombay House – the Tata Sons’ headquarters in Mumbai – within the conglomerate for his reclusive nature. He was the chairman of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, through which he owned Shapoorji Pallonji Construction and Forbes Textiles. 

He was the former chairman of Associated Cement Companies and Eureka Forbes. Mr Mistry’s life was captured in the form of a biography, The Moguls of Real Estate, by Manoj Namburu in 2008. Mr Mistry was awarded the coveted Padma Bhushan in January 2016 for his contributions in the field of trade and industry. 

Mr Mistry, the low-key business tycoon, is credited with taking the 150-year-old Shapoorji Pallonji Group to the next level of growth, having established long-term and lucrative ties as business infrastructure developers and builders for the Tata Group.

The SP Group undertook and executed several projects for the Tatas from Jamshedpur to other factory sites over many decades. The construction conglomerate was instrumental in constructing other buildings, including the iconic buildings for the Reserve Bank of India, the Citibank headquarters in India and a Steel Authority of India (SAIL) plant.

Earlier in April, Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry and six other directors had resigned from the board of Eureka Forbes with the owner Lunolu taking control of the vacuum cleaner and water purifier-maker. Eureka Forbes operates with brands like Aquaguard and Forbes. 

Mr Mistry is survived by his wife, Patsy Dubash, two sons and two daughters. Elder son Shapoor Mistry runs the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, whereas his younger son, Cyrus Mistry, had served as the chairman of the Tata Group for a couple of years. Mr Mistry’s elder daughter is Laila and his younger daughter Aloo is married to Ratan Tata’s half-brother Noel Tata. 

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