UPL chied, Lijjat Papad founder among 6 Padma winners from Maha

Mumbai, Jan 25 : Six prominent personalities from Maharashtra, including two inspiring women, have been named for this year’s Padma awards, on the occasion of the country’s Republic Day.
Industrialist Rajnikant Devidas Shroff, the legendary founder and Chairman-cum-Managing Director of United Phosphorus Ltd, an Indian MNC founded in 1969, has been honoured with the country’s third-highest civilian honour, Padma Bhushan.
Shroff, 87, born in Gujarat and educated in Mumbai’s Khalsa College, is ranked 87th on the Forbes list of richest Indians, besides being known as the country’s ‘Crop Protection King’.
Five personalities have been named for the Padma Shri honour – Sindhutai Sapkal, Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat, Parshuram Atmaram Gangavane, Namdeo C. Kamble and Girish Prabhune, as per the official notification on Monday.
Popat, 91, is one of the 7 semi-literate Gujarati housewives who founded the company producing the world-famous ‘Lijjat Papad’ in 1959, as a household venture, and making her a doyen of women’s empowerment.
Started with a modest seed capital of Rs 80, their cooperative venture – the Shri Mahila Gruh Udyog Lijjat Papad – now has a turnover of over Rs 1,000 crore, branches all over India, exports to more than two dozen countries and employs nearly 44,000 women.