Birth of a Visionary: On April 24, 1894, when a son was born to Pusapati Chinniah Raja, there was great jubilation in the family. Chinnaiah Raja believed that the child was born with the blessings of the Lord of Rameswaram, and named him child Ramasamy Raja. Little did anyone imagine that the infant was to one day change the face of Rajapalayam, a town nesting on the foothills of the Western Ghats in South Tamil Nadu. Ramasamy Raja, known as PACR, was only 27 years old when his father died and all the onerous responsibilities of the family were thrust upon his young shoulders.

Businessman turned into Industrialist: Ramasamy Raja was looking for something more enterprising than the family business. He became an agent for Harvey Mills of Madurai. This move changed Ramasamy Raja’s life. He realized the potential of his own land. Instead of sending the cotton to Madurai to be converted into yarn, he realized that he could do this in Rajapalayam itself. He concluded that Rajapalayam, which was otherwise a very backward area with very few job opportunities, would be vastly benefited by setting up a mill.

Selfless Service to People: He carried out his responsibilities very efficiently and the people of Rajapalayam respected him for his selfless service to the people. He was Chairman of Rajapalayam Municipality from 1941 to 1947. It was he who made Rajapalayam what it is today. Ramasamy Raja wanted to try his hand at business. He started off with a chain of provision shops and hardware shops. Along with his nephew, he started a transport corporation with five buses.

Birth of the first Ramco Venture: His visited Britain and other European countries to see first hand the working of the mills. There, he had the chance to meet many business magnates. He returned to India full of ideas. After returning to Rajapalayam, he put his plans into action. To start the yarn mill, he found that he needed Rs.5 lakhs, which in 1936 was a huge sum. It was considered a Herculean task to raise such a big capital. But the determined Raja was not deterred. He decided to make the people “Shareholders”.

Rajapalayam Mills Ltd: Thanks to his illustrious background and his own reputation, he raised the required capital ready, in no time. On September 05, 1938, the then State Minister for Labour, V.V.Giri, inaugurated the mill and Rajapalayam Mills Ltd commenced operations. There was no looking back for Ramasamy Raja after this. The Mill was a grand success. He followed this up with other successful ventures. He started The Ramaraju Surgical Cotton Mills Ltd along with his son-in-law Rama Raju.