The life expectancy rate of companies is shrinking rapidly world over. According to leadership guru Steven Denning, the life expectancy rate of Fortune-500 companies has reduced from around 75 years in the 1950s to less than 15 years now. Defying this average, a list of Indian companies have been in existence for over 100 years — and several of them are still going strong.1879MumbaiPublic shareholders and Nusli Wadia FamilyBombay Dyeing Company turned to textile only after it started suffering huge losses in its dyeing business in the early 1900s. This was around the time when Indian cloth merchants stopped importing cloth from Chinese manufacturers."It can therefore be surmised, Bombay Dyeing flourished along with the domestic textile industry in Bombay," says corporate historian Raman Mahadevan.The company has managed to stay afloat over 100 years, despite competition, cut-throat price wars and emergence of low-cost upcountry manufacturing centres across the country."The company’s ability to innovate and modernise continuously has helped it survive long," Raman Mahadevan adds.However, Bombay Dyeing has not been a great performer – in terms of corporate earnings – over the past few years. The company’s profit margins have shrunk significantly since 2013–14. In the last financial year, Bombay Dyeing suffered a loss of Rs 85.24 crore. The company management blames economic sluggishness as one of the reasons for the poor show.Bombay Dyeing’s real estate vertical – Bombay Realty – has had problems securing clearances for its residential projects. The textile division is facing headwinds from cheaper substitutes manufactured by the unorganised sector. Bombay Dyeing’s polyester division was dogged by falling crude prices and the resultant drop in polyester prices.In the near future, the company intends to outsource textile manufacturing to reduce cost. Strengthening of the 'Bombay Dyeing' brand is also on the cards.1902GurgaonPublic shareholders and Jindal familyShalimar is billed as the oldest paint company in South Asia. A clutch of government agencies such as Central Public Works Department, NTPC, Indian Railways, BPCL and IOC feature in its long list of loyal clients."We have several institutional clients who have stayed with us for more than three generations," says Surender Bhatia, CEO of Shalimar Paints. "A robust product range and a strong network of dealers and customers have helped us perform well all these years," he adds.The company has made rapid strides in the recent past, moving from ubiquitous distempers to emulsion paints, water-based colours, weatherproof paints and new-age decorative colours. Today Shalimar boasts of giving 55,000 colour options to its clients. The company recorded profit of Rs 5.2 crore on a sales turnover of Rs 403 crore last fiscal."Consumer taste changes every 4–5 years. We try to keep pace with changing tastes. The company is also getting re-branded as we speak. The idea is to make Shalimar a modern company," says Bhatia.1863MumbaiPublic shareholders and Nusli Wadia FamilyBombay Burmah Trading Corporation (BBTC) was established in 1863 by Wallace & Company, a firm controlled by a Scottish family of six brothers based in London.According to Raman Mahadevan, a Bengaluru-based business historian, Wallace brothers set up their business in India with the help of a Parsi entrepreneur Framjee Nusserwanjee Patel. The company ventured into Rangoon subsequently, sighting good business prospects. It leased out large tracts of forest land in Burma and emerged a big teak exporter."The assumption that the Wadias had assumed control over BBTC as early as 1913 seems to be misplaced. Even as late as the 1940s, the managing agents and secretaries of BBTC, as listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, is that of Wallace & Co," Mahadevan adds.In the early 1900s, BBTC diversified to raw cotton, textiles and oil as well. The Wadias seem to have picked shares of the company post 1930 – and tightened its grip on the company only in the post-Independence era.BBTC is currently engaged in plantations (tea and coffee), auto electric components, healthcare, real estate and weighing products businesses. The company recorded a loss of Rs 33.15 crore in the last financial year.Adverse weather conditions and increase in wages eroded earnings in the company's tea business. Slowdown in the auto industry and real estate verticals also hit the bottom line last year. The company has started taking measures to improve its earnings. It has started replanting tea bushes to improve yield; BBTC also intends to launch a retail brand of special tea in India.BBTC is also looking to unlock in its land parcel value over the next few years. The auto-parts and healthcare divisions too have plans to expand their products and service offerings.1892MumbaiUnited Technologies CorpAbout this time next year, Otis would have installed its fastest elevator in the country, ferrying passengers 2.5 metres every second — or about 500 feet per minute. This, in itself, is not a big achievement because Otis has set up speedier lifts elsewhere in the world. The company's elevators in Burj Khalifa – the world's tallest skyscraper – hurtle from ground level to 124th floor in 59 seconds – at 10 metres per second."Up to 80 per cent of elevators installed in India move at speeds lesser than 1 metre per second. This has to improve, without compromising on safety of passenger or their comfort," says Sebi Joseph, managing director of Otis Elevator Company. "We want to make smarter elevators that will meet the rising aspirations of our customers."Otis started actual production some six decades ago. The company has a manufacturing plant in Bengaluru, which produces 10,000 units every year. Otis has 2,600 employees in India."Our order book is growing 20 per cent every year. We've invested heavily in technology and research. Our strategy is to make quality elevators available at all price points," says Joseph.1907VadodaraPublicly shareholders and Chirayu Amin familyAlembic's factory, in the mid-1930s, was so technologically advanced that it manufactured its own internal combustion engine running on 'power alcohol' – a product that mixed alcohol with petrol in a 4:1 ratio to increase engine performance and efficiency, while reducing pollution at the same time.Later, in the 1940s, when public sentiment turned against alcohol in Gujarat, Alembic moved on to making cough syrups, vitamins, tonics and antibiotic drugs."We've faced challenges every decade, but strong fundamentals have helped us sail through. We've never taken short-cuts in business," says Pranav Amin, managing director of Alembic."Our strong point is that we respect technology a lot. We never ever backed out of investing in technology," Amin added.Alembic Pharmaceuticals reported profits of Rs 698 crore last fiscal. The company's international generics vertical reported 75 per cent Y-o-Y growth, driven by strong traction in the US.The US generic business is likely to drive international business over the next two years on the back of 13-14 product launches, according to an HDFC Securities stock report."The world has become a very dynamic place. Companies have to be nimble-footed. We have to keep re-inventing every day," Amin sums up.1839ChennaiPublic shareholders and Murugappa GroupLike all free traders, the lure of commodities brought Thomas Parry, an English trader, to India. Parry & Co started off as a general trading company dealing in sugar and spirits."By the late 19th century, the company had emerged as one of the largest traders of sugar with a firm grip over South Indian market. Parry & Co was so strong then that it floated two separate companies — East India Distilleries and Sugar Factories Ltd," says business historian Raman Mahadevan.In 1962, Parry & Co merged the two companies to become EID Parry. The Murugappa group acquired control over EID Parry in 1981.EID Parry reported profits of Rs 25.34 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal compared with the corresponding quarter loss of Rs 138 crore in the previous year. The standalone sugar business of the company logged a PBIT (profit before interest and tax) of Rs 56 crore. The bio-products division (comprising pesticides and nutraceuticals) registered a PBIT of Rs 4 crore."The company's performance was satisfactory, largely due to better price realisation on sugar. Going by the current trend in prices, the sugar scenario for the year remains positive," stated EID Parry managing director V Ramesh in a post-results media release.EID Parry, along with its units, has nine sugar factories having a capacity to crush 39,000 tonnes of cane a day, generate 160 MW of power and four distilleries having a capacity 230 kilolitres a day.1887JuteKolkataBP AgarwalThe fortunes of Kamarhatty Company hit a downward spiral in the early 1980s, when plastic became more accepted in the packaging industry. Labour unrest, lower demand for jute and rising cost of production crippled the company even further in the subsequent years. This was around the time when most jute companies downed their shutters across India.Shortly after the Agarwals stepped in, the company's losses mounted and it slipped into BIFR (Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction) – and remained there for about 10 years, until 2001."We're still in restructuring phase. It took us a long time to turn around," says SK Agarwal, managing director of Kamarhatty Company.In the last financial year, Kamarhatty recorded profits of Rs 1.5 crore. The company has also diversified into newer product segments like non-woven jute and linen yarns. "We'll survive for many years, we've got expansion plans," assures Agarwal.Kamarhatty is among the few jute companies that are using technology to reduce labour and increase production efficiency. The company manufactures close to 30,000 tonnes of jute every year – using almost 75 per cent of its installed capacity.Kamarhatty has reduced its head count from over 6,000 a few years ago to about 5,000 now. It intends to round off total workforce to about 2,500 in three years."Demand for jute is slowly picking up. Several countries have banned plastic completely. These markets should give us good business in future," Agarwal adds. Kamarhatty faces stiff competition from Bangladesh-based jute mills, which sell their wares 30– 40 per cent cheaper than Indian companies.1841KolkataBharat BajoriaKaamjaari, the traditional way of distributing work among garden employees, is still practised at Teesta Valley tea gardens. Every evening, after the day's work, garden supervisors are handed out chores which workers have to complete the next day.When 900 workers come for work the next day — at 7.30 am — they are fairly well aware of the tasks at hand. The 850-hectare-tea estate is divided into several sections are manned by a pool of supervisors, whose job is to walk around and inspect the work. Fifteen minutes after 4 pm, when workers file out for their homes, supervisors walk back to the estate office to get their next day's mandate. The 175-year-old company exports special teas to Japan, Germany and the UK, among other developed markets."Discipline is the key to success of any tea garden. We still follow old British traditions," says RK Dixit, who has spent 60 years managing tea gardens across the North East, and is on the board of Teesta Valley Tea Company.Despite the regimented work method, the company ran into rough weather post Independence, when demand (for tea) and prices declined globally. Weather also played havoc on the crop in 1950, 1953 and 1955. In the mid-60s and 70s, the company faced problems from trade unions."The last three years have been bad for most tea companies. Global tea prices have fallen 10–15 per cent and the cost of production is steadily going up," Dixit says.But he is sanguine. "This company will live on for many years. We've already commenced uprooting old tea bushes and replacing them with new ones. New bushes will mature for plucking in 8 years and will yield for the next 40–50 years," Dixit adds.1876KolkataStock trading, NBFC operationsA group of individualsThe previous management of Amluckie sold their tea gardens in the late-1960s when business became tough for the industry. The next two decades were pretty staid for Amluckie. When the current management took over reins of the company in mid-90s, it just had a capital base of Rs 20 lakh and a functional non-banking finance company (NBFC) licence."Even brand recall was not there as the company had exited its tea business long ago," says Santosh Jain, CFO of Amluckie Investment Company.The company, owned by a group of individuals, does proprietary stock trading and SME lending these days. Amluckie has a loan book of Rs 10 crore."We're profitable in a small way. We have expansion plans to grow our business. We're actively considering venturing into microfinance and asset reconstruction businesses," adds Jain.Public shareholders and India GovernmentAllahabad Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda, Punjab & Sind Bank, Central Bank and State Bank of Mysore.The Presidency banks, namely Bank of Bengal, Bank of Madras and Bank of Bombay, were established by the East India Company more than a century ago with a view to manage its finances in the country and also lend money to the Indian mercantile class.However, these banks (managed by the Brits) were not comfortable lending money to Indian businessmen, mainly because they found it difficult to understand the 'HUF-way' (Hindu Undivided Family) of doing business. They failed to even grasp the 'chopda' system of book-keeping, prevalent among traditional Indian business families then. Among the three Presidency banks, Bank of Bombay was more liberal in terms of offering loans to Indians, albeit at higher coupon rates.This resulted in the setting up of banks like Allahabad Bank (1865) and Punjab National Bank (1895), with many influential Indians of those times on the board. Allahabad Bank is the oldest public sector bank in India while Punjab National Bank is the first bank to be purely managed by Indians. Freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai was actively associated with the creation of Punjab National Bank.The formation of RBI in 1935 and the promulgation of the Banking Regulation Act 1949 and amendment to the Act in 1965 helped these banks to operate in a regulated environment."These banks survived long mainly because of nationalisation in 1969. The government induced capital and also gave business to these banks to stay afloat," explains veteran political economist and author Amiya Kumar Bagchi."The government forced these banks to spread out to rural areas, which strengthened their roots firmly. The Green Revolution helped these banks to grow their business portfolios significantly" Bagchi adds.Some of these banks are facing severe stress of bad loans (NPAs) currently.