Section 35
Wadia Group
Started as: Shipbuilding in Bombay for the East India Company
- founded
- 1736
- founder
- Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia
- headquarters
- Mumbai, Maharashtra
- 355+
- Ships built by the group in its first 150 years · 2026
- 125+
- Years of uninterrupted dividends paid by Bombay Dyeing · 2026
- 2,537.01
- Britannia consolidated net profit, FY26 (₹ crore) · 2026
The story
The Wadia Group is among India's oldest business houses. In 1736 Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia, a Parsi shipbuilder from Surat, began building ships in Bombay for the East India Company. The group says it built over 355 vessels in the next 150 years.
As the age of wooden ships ended, the family moved into trade and textiles. Bombay Dyeing began in a small red-brick shed and has paid dividends without a break for over 125 years, the group says.
Later the group added Britannia, now one of India's biggest biscuit makers, and real estate. Two of its four listed companies have been listed for more than 100 years.
Where it works today
Food (biscuits and dairy)TextilesPlantations and tradingReal estateChemicalsEngineering services
Main companies
Britannia Industries · Bombay Dyeing · The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation · Bombay Realty · National Peroxide · Wadia Techo Engineering Services
Timeline
- 1736Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia wins contracts to build ships and docks in Bombay.
- 1863The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation is set up.
- 1879Nowrojee Wadia moves the family into textiles; Bombay Dyeing begins.
- 1918Britannia is founded; it later becomes part of the Wadia group.
- 1993The Wadia group takes control of Britannia.
- 2026Britannia reports FY26 consolidated net profit of ₹2,537.01 crore, up 16.5%.