That same year, his effort and determination were rewarded, and he started a successful coal distribution business based out of Calcutta. With his, "unique and innate genius for organization and leadership [and]…quick and clear understanding of men and matters,"* Karam Chand managed to consolidate a diverse group of investors and contractors, and incorporate them into his coal distribution network. He then began to rapidly acquire and develop coal mines in the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

A Photograph of
Karam Chand
taken in the late 1950s

Coal Mining
in Jharia

Due to the growth of the coal distribution business within the Group’s portfolio, Karam Chand decided to de-merge this business – henceforth to be known as Karam Chand Thapar & Bros. (Coal Sales) Ltd. [“the Company”] – from the parent so as to better manage the sales and supplies of coal. The present day KCT Coal Sales was thus established in the year 1943.

Karam Chand gave charge of this newly formed Company to his eldest son, Inder Mohan, who continues as Chairman and Managing Director to this day. Under his guidance and leadership, the Company began on a path of steady growth. By the end of the 1960s, not only had KCT Coal Sales (along with its allied concerns like United Collieries Ltd., Oriental Coal Ltd., Bhowra Kankanee Ltd. etc.) grown to become the second largest owners of coal mines and producers of coal in India, but the Group also earned a reputation for operating the most efficient mines – both coking and non-coking coal – with the highest safety standards. For his outstanding achievements in developing the indigenous coal industry in India, Inder Mohan was given the nickname “King Coal” by his contemporaries.

With Prime Minister Nehru
at FICCI in New Delhi

Leveraging off the Company’s existing infrastructure, knowledge and experience, he shifted focus to the coal handling segment of the business, and in a short span of time, KCT Coal Sales became the leading coal logistics firm in India, a position it continues to hold to this day.

In 1969, prior to coal nationalisation, Produce Exchange Corporation, another company of the Group which had been dealing in commodities such as sugar, starch, paper etc. was merged with KCT Coal Sales to leverage the established distribution network. With the addition of this business – then labeled Produce Exchange Division – the Company also became one of the largest paper distributors in India. In 2006, this Division was de-merged to form a separate company to meet the challenges of a new global economy. Today, it retains its position as one of the country’s largest paper distributors for both domestic and international paper manufacturers, and trades under the KCT brand.

The period after nationalisation also witnessed a diversification of KCT Coal Sale’s business portfolio into other areas where the Company had a competitive advantage. In 1983, KCT merged with Thapar Intrafor Cofor India Ltd. [“TICIL”], a joint-venture between the Thapar Group and Intrafor Cofor, a French company that specialized in the development of deep mines. Since its creation in the 1960s, TICIL has been the civil works construction arm of the Group; successfully executing works for several large-scale hydro projects, including some of national importance like the Tehri Dam Project and the Kalinadi Hydel Project. Today, TICIL is considered one of the premier construction agencies in the field of hydro power, and has diversified its project portfolio to include road construction, underground tunneling etc.

Thapar House, Calcutta, KCT Coal Sales Head Office for over Four Decades