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{{other uses|Kamani (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}

{{Infobox person
|name = Ramji Hansraj Kamani
|image = Ramjibhai_kamani_small.jpg
|image_size =
|caption =
|birth_date = 21 February 1888
|birth_place = Dhari village, [[Baroda State]], [[British Raj|British India]]
|death_date = 27 June 1965
|death_place = [[Mumbai|Bombay]], India
|nationality = Indian
|occupation = [[Industrialist]]
|known for = Founder of Jaipur Metal Industries Limited (1942) (Jaipur Metals & Electricals Limited) Kamani Metals & Alloys Limited (1944) [[Kamani Engineering Corporation]] Limited (1945) Kamani Metallic Oxides Private Limited (1951) Kamani Tubes Private Limited (1959) Indian Rubber Regenerating Company Limited (1960) Industrial Jewels Limited (1963)
|years_active = 1917–1965
|spouse = Jadavlaxmi
|children = Poonamchand, Rasik, Sarla, Navin, Nalini, Hasmukh, Navnit, Chandravadan, Mridula
|parents = Hansraj and Dudhima
}}

'''Ramji Hansraj Kamani''' ({{lang-gu|રામજી હંસરાજ કમાણી}}; 21 February 1888 – 27 June 1965) also called '''Ramjibhai''', was an Indian entrepreneur and [[industrialist]] born in the village of Dhari in the [[Amreli district]] of [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]], [[Baroda State]]. He was the [[patriarch]] of the Kamani group companies.

In June 1920, Ramjibhai joins Mahatma Gandhi's Non co-operation movement. He later communicates with Gandhi during his stint in jail.

Nicol Road, a street in the [[Ballard Estate]] business district of Mumbai where the company office, Kamani Chambers is located, was rechristened Ramjibhai Kamani Marg in his honor.

== Entrepreneurship ==

Ramjibhai Kamani pioneered many firsts for the Indian industrial sector, [[electric power transmission]] being one, the others being production of various derivatives of [[non-ferrous metals]] and alloys for use in specialized industrial applications viz. [[arsenical copper]] plates, [[cupronickel]] sheets and production of [[lead oxide]] and [[zinc oxide]]. [[Kamani Engineering Corporation]] (KEC) also manufactured a unique and innovative [[road roller]] with the trade name ''Tractmount''  — the design created a light-weight standalone road roller which could be easily transported in a truck and could be mounted on by a tractor for use at its destination. Several were sold all over India especially in hilly and mountainous areas where it would otherwise be difficult to lug a full-sized road roller up steep mountain roads.

Ramjibhai Kamani founded [[Kamani Engineering Corporation]] (KEC) in 1945 which became the first [[electric power transmission]] company in Asia and a pioneer in the field of electric power transmission<ref name="India's industrialists">Piramal, Gita; Herdeck, Margaret, ''India's industrialists, Vol. 1,'' Rev. ed. 1986, Three Continents Press, Washington, D.C.</ref> and [[railway electrification]]. In 1950, the company received an order from the [[Indian government]] to supply transmission towers for the prestigious [[Bhakra Nangal Dam]] project and a steel tower fabrication plant was established in [[Bombay]] in partnership with R. Foures, France. This was augmented by a second unit in [[Jaipur]], [[Rajasthan]]<ref name="KEC">[[KEC International]] on Wikipedia</ref> and by 1967, KEC was supplying three-fifths of India's demand for transmission towers.<ref name="India's industrialists"/>

By the 1970s, the Kamani group as it came to be known, consisted of seven companies with several manufacturing units in [[Bombay]], [[Bhavnagar]] and [[Jaipur]], and doing business in varied fields ranging from metals to rubber and chemicals to [[jewel bearing]]s not to mention power, in both national and global markets.

By the 1970s KEC had carried out turnkey power transmission projects in various countries across the globe. With eighty per cent of its turnover of almost {{INRConvert|800|m}} being earned through exports, KEC soon became the largest manufacturer of transmission towers in India and the second largest in the world, next in rank to SAE of Italy.<ref name="India's industrialists"/>

KEC accumulated heavy financial [[debt]] during the [[1973 oil crisis]] and the [[1979 energy crisis]] both of which adversely affected international transactions conducted in [[US Dollars]] as world [[crude oil]] prices quadrupled. Completing its project commitments while incurring heavy losses and unable to clear its debts, the company was [[auction]]ed by the [[Maharashtra government]] in 1982 for recovery of dues and was [[Takeover|acquired]] by the [[RPG Group]]<ref name="India's industrialists"/> and in 1984, renamed [[KEC International]].

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite book|publisher=Kamani Charitable Trust under the leadership of Shri Poonamchandbhai Kamani|title=Biography: Ramjibhai - Jeevan Ane Karya (Life and Work)|year=1971|location=Mumbai, India|url=http://www.ramjibhaikamani.blogspot.in/}} - Translated and published as electronic blog from Gujarati to English in the year 2013 with the efforts of Chetan Kamani, Poorvi Kamani, Sameer Kamani ( grand children) and Soham Kamani ( great grand son)
* {{cite book|last=Piramal, Gita|first=Herdeck, Margaret|title=India's industrialists, Vol. 1|orig-year=1985|year=1986|publisher=Three Continents Press (Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc., Boulder Colorado)|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=131–133|isbn=0-89410-474-8|edition=First, second printing, Revised}}
* {{cite journal|last=Bhowmik|first=Sharit K.|title=Workers Take over Kamani Tubes|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|date=21 January 1989|volume= 24|series=No. 3|pages=124–126}}
* {{cite news|last=Karunakaran|first=Naren|title=How dalit entrepreneur Kalpana Saroj revived Kamani Tubes Ltd.|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-29/news/29829281_1_dalit-kamani-tubes-ktl|access-date=17 August 2011|newspaper=The Economic Times|date=29 July 2011}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamani, Ramji H.}}
[[Category:1888 births]]
[[Category:1965 deaths]]
[[Category:Businesspeople in metals]]
[[Category:Indian industrialists]]
[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Gujarat]]
[[Category:People from Amreli district]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Gandhians]]

Ramji H. Kamani - Revision history

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