Numis Amits' collection of Indian Textile & Jute Mill Shares & Bonds.

The Diamond Spinning & Weaving Company Limited was incorporated as a Public company on 08th October 1919 under the Indian Companies Act 1913. Mill agents were Gulabchand Devchand & Co. One of the founder directors, Mr. Hansraj P Thackersey has a number of educational institutions named after him. The share capital of the company at inception was One Crore (1,00,00,000) divided in to 50,000 Ordinary and 50,000 Preference shares of Rupees 100 each. Attached is a Blue and Black partially paid up preference share certificate of Rs. 100 (of which only rupees twenty five have been paid up), issued on 25th June 1920. This certificate is issued in the name of the Mill Agent Mr. Gulabchand Devchand. This mill seems to have had a very short life as no reference is found about this mill in the Handbook of Textile Industry 1948. Either the Mill had closed down in the recession in the 1930’s or had been sold and re-named.  

The Wadia Woollen Mills Limited was incorporated as a Public company on 17th September 1919. Mill agents were H P Wadia & Co . The share capital of the company at inception was One Crore (1,00,00,000) divided in to 1,00,000 Ordinary shares of Rupees 100 each.   Attached is a Black partially paid up share certificate of Rs. 100 (of which only rupees Sixty have been paid up), issued in 1920. This certificate is issued in the name of Lady Sulochna Chinoobhai OBE who was the wife of Chinubhai Baronet of Ahmedabad and was a director in a few mills. This mill seems to have had a short life as no reference is found about this mill in the Handbook of Textile Industry 1948. Either the Mill had closed down in the recession in the 1930’s or had been sold and re-named. Current Company status of the mill as seen in the Registrar of Companies list is – DISSOLVED. However no further information is available.   I would appreciate any further information or details on the c...

    The Saraswati Ginning and Manufacturing Co. Ltd.   Ginning is the process of treating cotton pods to remove the seeds and produce bales of raw cotton for further processing. Cotton Seed Oil is the extract from these cotton seeds.  The Saraswati Ginning and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. was set up in 1920 with an a uthorised capital of Rs. 30,00,000 divided in to 30,000/- of Rs100 each issued at Ahmedabad in August 1921. The paid up value of shares was Rs. 50/- only. The certificate shows an attractive vignettes of a factory building (most likely of the company itself) and a bridge across the river Narmada (probably indicating that the factory was located somewhere in the Bharuch (then Broach) district. Colour: Green & Brown.   It is worth noting that the certificates are signed by a Ms. Sulochana Chinubhai as Director and also as the Secretary, Treasurer & Agents of the factory. This shows that it was not only men but women too were actively i...

  THE RAJA GOKALDASS MILLS LIMITED. Share certificate printed in Black Ink. Probably started as a proprietary or partnership company in the late 19th century, it was incorporated under the Indian Companies Act 1913 after having been taken over by Sir Homi Maneck Mehta and Sheth Mangaldas G Parekh. Capital 6,00,000 rupees in 6,000 shares of 100 rupees. Later on the face value of shares was reduced to 50 rupees. "Raja Gokuldas Mills" was set up by one Raja Gokuldas Malpani (1839 – 1909), a Marwari millionaire from Jabalpur. He later set up a chain of ginning and pressing factories at Gadarwara, Piparia, Harda, Khandwa, Wardha and more places in the Central Provinces and Berar, at Banda and Etawah in Uttar Pradesh and Multan in Punjab. In 1883, Lord Ripon, the Viceroy of India conferred the title of "Rai Bahadur" upon him and in 1889, he was given the title of Raja in recognition of his great wealth and power. His family was considered one of the wealt...

  Seth Lalbhai Dalpatbhai whose father, Dalpatbhai Bhagubhai was into cotton trading business since the 1870, decided to start his own cotton mill to expand the family business. He established The Saraspur Manufacturing Co. Limited in 1896 with an authorised capital of Rs. 6,00,000 divided in to 600 shares of Rs. 100 each. This unit probably faced severe liquidity crises around 1923 and a winding up petition was filed against the company on 4 June 1924. After liquidation, Saraspur Manufacturing Co. Limited was renamed The Saraspur Mill Company Limited which was incorporated on 10 January 1928. Here is a “Duplicate” share certificate of Saraspur Manufacturing Co. Limited , numbered 64 for ONE share of Rupees 100 only, issued on 5th February 1937 in lieu of an earlier certificate in the name of Manibhai Lalbhai. This certificate is signed by Kasturbhai Lalbhai, the son of Lalbhai Dalpatbhai as the official liquidator of Saraspur Manufacturing Co. Limited. Kasturbhai went on the...

The Government Silk Filature, Mysore was started in 1921. In 1937 it became a joint stock company under the name The Mysore Silk Filature Ltd. with a capital of Rs. 4 lakh, to carry on the business of silk filatures for reeling high grade silk in the rich sericulture tract comprising of the talukas of Narasipur, Nahjangund, Chamaraj Nagar, Yelandur and Malavalli. To begin with a filature of 200 basins was to be established at Narasipur. The government had subscribed Rs 15,000 towards the share capital of company. The government granted 10 acers of land for the factory free of cost and also granted other facilities as water electric power transfer of existing machinery and equipment of the government filature at responsible price (nformation drawn from IJRAR1903873 International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR) www.ijrar.org)   The Mysore Silk Filature Ltd was i ncorporated under the Mysore Companies Act 1917 with an authorised Capital Rs. 10,00,000 ...

THE OSMANSHAHI MILLS, LIMITED , was was incorporated in the State of Hyderabad (Deccan) and registered under the Companies Act IV of the Fasli year 1320 of H.E.H. the Nizam’s Dominions. The Company was Registered as a Joint Stock Company on the 7th of Sherivar in the Fasli year 1331 (15 July 1922 A. D.) at the City of Hyderabad, Saifabad, in the Dominions of H.E.H. the Nizam of Hyderabad. Although the company was incorporated in the state of Hyderabad, which had its own currency – the OS (Osmania Sicca or Hyderabadi Rupee), the authorized share capital of the company was denominated in British-India Rupees, which is mentioned on the share certificate as BG Rs (British Government Rupees) probably to attract investments pan India. The Mills were established at Nanded (now in Maharashtra) with land leased (at least partly) from the Gurudwara at Nanded. The initial Authorised capital was BG Rs. 100,00,000 (British Government Rupees One Crore) in 1,00,000 shares of BG Rs. 100 each and s...

D N Choudhury Cotton Mills Ltd is a Non-government Public company incorporated on 08 November 1945 and registered at Registrar of Companies, Calcutta. Choudhury Industries Ltd were the Secretaries and Agents.  Its authorised Capital was Rs. 75,00,000 divided in to 1,00,000 Preference Shares of Rs. 10 each and 6,50,000 Ordinary Shares of Rs. 10 each. Its current authorized share capital is Rs. 1,593,622,000 and its paid up capital is Rs. 1,593,620. It is involved in Spinning, weaving and finishing of textiles. I attach pictures of One Ordinary Share Certificate for 100 Shares issued in 1946 and One Certificate for 100 Preference Shares, issued in 1951. The Certificate for Ordinary (Equity) Shares was issued to a resident of Rajshshi district, which a year after the issue of this share became a part of West Pakistan, currently Bangladesh. The Second call for the balance amount of Rs. 3 per share was paid in September,  1947 – a little after independence.

The Hingunghat Mill Co. Ltd. was a Cotton Mill  located in the cotton growing area of  Hinghanghat, near Wardha in Maharashtra.  At incorporation, the capital was Rs. 3,00,000 divided in to 600 shares of Rs. 500 each. Amount paid at the time of application / allotment was Rs. 100. The balance Rs. 400 was paid in installments of Rs. 50 each in the same year. Here is a certificate  for one share Numbered 310  of only 600 issued  for Rs. 500. Printed in Black, it shows a large vignette of the mill, and has a 1 Anna adhesive revenue stamp with the face of Queen Victoria.  I have not been able to find any information on this company.   It is noticed that the share certificate, issued in the name of one Issurdas Mehta (Ishwardas Mehta) was in 1884 (so in about 3 years) transferred to Dinshaw Manokjee Petit (Dinshaw Manekji Petit) who was the founder of the first Textile Mill in Bombay and was also the first Baronet. It was in his name for about...

The BINOD MILLS COMPANY LIMITED , Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh (MP) The erstwhile Raja of Gwalior, by a deed dated 22.10.1912, had granted permission to M/s.Binodiram Balchand of Jhalarapattan to open a spinning and weaving mill at Ujjain. BINOD MILLS COMPANY LIMITED was established in 1913 and incorporated as a Public company on 22 Dec 1914 under the Gwalior Companies Act of Samwat 1963 (1907 AD) . As per last available information, it was registered as a Non-government Public company at Registrar of Companies, Gwalior with its authorized share capital as Rs. 50,00,000.00 and its paid up capital was also Rs. 50,00,000.00. . A lease deed, styled as “Lease-Acceptance”, was then entered into by the sons of Mr Balchand (Binodiram's brothers) with the Raja of Gwalior, which mandated that 75- 80 bighas be given to the Firm on an annual rental calculated at the current assessment rates for so long as the mill is in existence and that the name of the Mills shall be “The Binod Mil...

THE SERAJGUNGE JUTE Co LIMITED , a British registered company, incorporated under the English Companies Act 1862 , was started in 1864, with 200 looms, by a Dr. Macdonnel, “who knew something about tea”. The Mill, located at Serajgunge, 150 miles from Calcutta, was managed by Messrs Hoare, Miller & Co. of London and Calcutta. By the time it closed when the buildings were wrecked in the earthquake of 1897, it had 310 looms with 6000 spindles. However its working had been very unsuccessful and it had been closed for want of jute, a second time within three years (in spite of being situated in the midst of the jute growing districts and being warned by the official forecasts of a short crop and consequent increase in prices). The company was wound up and the machinery brought down to Calcutta in 1899 and erected in the Delta Jute Mills. Here is one certificates (No. 429) for 1 Mortgage debenture of Rs. 500 from an issue of 1000 Mortgage Debenture Loan of Rs. 5,00,000 (R...

The Sasoon and Alliance Silk Mills Company Limited - later called   Podar Silk & Synthetics Ltd.   Soon after David Sassoon established a new subsidiary in Bombay, called the "Sassoon Spinning and Weaving Company", (which went on to establish seven cotton mills), he established Sassoon Silk Mill, in 1875, near Victoria Gardens. It was then the largest mill in the Bombay Presidency manufacturing silk yarn and cloth for the Indian and Burma markets. Sassoon Silk Mill was renamed in 1883 due to the amalgamation of Alliance Silk Mill and the new entity was called The Sasoon and Alliance Silk Mills Company Limited . The capital, of the company Managed by M/s David Sassoon & Co. Ltd, was Rs. 5,00,000 divided in to 50,000 shares of Rs. 10 each. As the stamp suggests, the Mills were later renamed, Podar Silk & Synthetics Ltd. , a company incorporated on 27 August 1983. Here is a certificate for one share of Rs. 10 each issued in 1949 printed in Black Ink.  ...

THE BALARAMA VARMA TEXTILES LIMITED was originally incorporated under the Travancore Companies Act IX of 1110 at Travancore and was later re-incorporated as a Non-govt (Private) company under the Indian Companies Act 1913 on 17-07-1945.  The Capital of Rs. 20,00,000 was divided in to 19,000 Ordinary Shares of Rs 100 each and 10,000 'B' Class Shares of Rs. 10 each. At the time of incorporation under the Indian Companies Act, the Managing Agents were Karayalar Bros. & Co. This was subsequently changed to  Karayalar & Rangaswamy Naidu Sons Co. before these shares were issued.    The Mill was located at Shencottah in Tamil Nadu where the Registerd office would have been shifted. It was nationalised around 1974 under Section 41 if the Sick Textile Undertakings (Nationalisation) Act, 1974 and has subsequently been closed down. Here is  a beautiful Certificate, for 5 shares, printed in Green on white background with Red and Black ink and a lovely bor...

Broach Fine Counts Spinning And Weaving Company Limited was a Non-Government Public Company incorporated on 22-04-1918. Authorised Capital was 20,00,000 Rupees divided in to 8,000 shares of 250 Rupees.  The Managing Agency of this Bombay headquartered company was M/s Huseinbhoy Dalsukhbhai & Co.  Note how the suffix to the name is spelt. Husein bhoy (the Anglicized version) and Dalsukh bhai (the Indian version). Here is a beautiful certificate for ONE Share printed in Mauve ink.

    M/s. Girdhardas Harivallabhdas Mills Limited (subsequently known as M/s. Star of Gujarat Textile Mills Ltd) was originally purchased by the Parekh Family in 1912 and was named M/s. The Girdhardas Harivallabhdas Mills. I am trying to look up the history of this mill before 1912. As per available records the company was registered with the Registrar of Companies on 21 January, 1931. The image of the share certificates are dated 1st June 1931 with an authorised Share capital of Rs. 6,00,000 divided in to 4800 shares of Rs 125 each. This was (as seen in the stamp on one of the 2 certificates) increased to Rs. 10,80,000 by issue of 9600 4% Cumulative redeemable Preference Shares of Rs. 50 each. Unfortunately the date is not indicated in the stamp. This was then increased in June 1944 (or is it 1948?) to Rs. 15,00,000 with an additional issue of Preference shares, taking the number of preference shares to 18,000. 1 of the 2 certificates shows the increase in capital. Some time...

The Seebpore Jute Manufacturing Company Limited was established by M/s Apcar & Co., of Calcutta , with 250 looms in 1872-73 and commenced operations in 1874. It was incorporated under the Indian Companies Act 1882 on 1st December 1873. The Mill is located at Sibpur (then called Seebpore) in Bengal. Authorised capital was Rs. 10,00,000 divided in to 5,000 ordinary shares of Rs. 100 each and 5,000 8% Preference shares of Rs. 100 each. Subsequently the capital was increased to Rs. 17,50,000 by an issue of 7,500 Cumulative Second Preference shares of Rs. 100 each. Around 1900, the Mill was doing fairly well and had increased capacity to 450 looms and 9002 spindles. The Mill management, probably around 1917 (some sources put it to 1925), was taken over by M/s Kettlewell, Bullen & Co. and it was called the Fort William Jute Mills Co. Ltd. The Management once again changed in 1952 when it was transferred to M/s Mugneeram Bangur & Co.    The then management put up a clos...

  Kelvin Jute Mills ( Kelvin Jute Company Limited ) was founded by Sir Charles McLeod on 16 July 1907. The Mill, located at Titagarh, 24 Parghanas North, Calcutta, was part of the McLeod Group which owned and managed 10 Jute Mills, 16 Tea Companies, and Light Railways. In 1917 it was operating with 600 looms. It also operated a 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG) system train inside the campus. By 1951, the Authorised capital was Rs, 34,00,000, divided in to 21,000 Ordinary shares of Rs 100 each and 13,000 Preference shares of Rs. 100 each.  The Mill employed over 2600 workmen and 200 staff and was modernised in 2018 & 2019 and production was increased to 100 Metric Tons per day. However as per information on Google, the company has been amalgamated but I am unable to locate with which company.

The Assur Veerjee Mills , promoted by Assur Veerjee was set up in 1896 as a Spinning & Weaving Mill, just as the Textile industry in India was recovering from the dual strike of the Plague and Famine in the 1890's, which had brought about a severe downturn in the Cotton Textile industry in India. The Managing Agents were M/s Assur Veerjee & Co. The company seems to have gone public and was listed in 1920 under the same management. Share capital was 20,00,000 divided in to 20,000 shares of Rs. 100 each. While some shares were issued with paid up capital of Rs. 100, some had Rs. 25 paid up. By 1925, the Managing Agency was changed to M/s. H F Commissarriat & Co. The turbulent times in the early 1920's saw the mill make losses from around 1923. Here is a Mauve with a Dusky Pink under-print, share certificate of the mill issued in 1920 for One share of Rs. 100 paid up.  

Marsden Brothers & Company Limited was incorporated on 18 December 1920 under the Indian Companies Act 1913. Initial authorized capital was Rs. 15,000 divided in to 3,000 shares of Rs. 5 each.  In 1948, t his was  increased to Rs. 6,15,000 by an issue of 12,000 Redeemable Cumulative Preference shares of Rs. 50 each. As seen from the certificate, the company was a Managing Agency house, established to manage the family run Marsden Spinning and Manufacturing Company Limited . This company too was managed by a family controlled Agency. Managing Agency system, a dominant force in India's industrial development since the mid-19th century, faced increasing scrutiny for its potential for mismanagement and abuse and was officially abolished in April 1970. This decision followed a period of increasing restrictions and criticism particularly after India's independence in 1947. This caused many managing agencies to sell their stakes and exit the business by the mid-1960’s. The Comp...