Appsaheb Marathe

Appasaheb Marathe was a businessman from Maharashtra state in India. He is the founder of Marathe Udyog Bhavan. He was born into a Maharastrian Brahmin family to Purushottam Marathe and Janakibai on 18 June 1911, in Vengurle, a village in Konkan region. He lost his father at an early age. Due to extreme poverty at home he was forced to leave his native place after his matriculation and move to Mumbai for his livelihood. There he started working in a shop known as P. Shah & Co.

Early life in Karachi In the year 1931-32, he was transferred to the Karachi branch of P. Shah & Co as a manager. However, his entrepreneurial spirit did not let him continue his job, so after getting accustomed to a new life in Karachi and having gathered enough experience of business, he started his own chemical shop called Fairdeal Pharmacy. During his stay there between 1942 and 1944, with the help of Shri N. P. Patwardhan who was a relative and a partner in the Company, he started a mechanical workshop by the name 'Sunbeam Engineering Works'. He also founded 'The Sindh Industrial and Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.' in 1942. It produced vitamin-rich Shark liver oil under the brand name 'SIPOL', a substitute to imported cod liver oil, which was in short supply due to World War 2.

Return to Mumbai In 1947, he had to wind up all activities in Karachi and had to return to India due to the partition of the country. The Swift Company received the Import Substitution Award from the Government of India in 1978 for being the first manufacturer of offset printing machines.

Social contributions Appasaheb Marathe Award was instituted 35 years ago in Balmohan Vidyamandir to be awarded to the student who excelled in English in the 10th class exams.

Appasaheb Marathe was appointed as Trustee of School at Kurla, Mumbai founded by Karachi Maharashtriya Shikshan Prasarak Mandal.