Prakash Bhagwati at the helm of GCCI affairs

Prakash Hiralal Bhagwati, chairman of InspirOn Engineering, will be at the helm of affairs at Gujarat’s apex body of trade and commerce, the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He has been elected as the president for the term 2012-13 and will officially take charge of office from August 1 after the formal announcement of his election at the chamber’s annual general meeting (AGM) on July 29.

Belonging to the well-known Hiralal Bhagwati family, Prakash did his mechanical engineering from LD College of engineering in Ahmedabad and completed his MS in mechanical engineering from Wichita State University at Kansas in USA. Bhagwati also worked in the US before he came back to India.

“My father was in the cloth-trading business. However, he advised me to enter into textile machinery manufacturing business and work with my uncle in Associated Textile Engineers (ATE),” said Bhagwati. Walking back memory lane, Bhagwati said that his grandfather being a teacher, the family always focused on getting their kids educated well and many of his cousins, including renowned economist Jagdish Bhagwati and Justice PN Bhagwati, have made their marks on the national as well as international levels.

Apart from being the chairman of Inspiron Engineering, Bhagwati is also the chairman of ErhardtLeimer (India). He is also a chairman of a 50-bed Santokba Bhagwati General Hospital at Dholka. Bhagwati’s company has adopted a primary school in Bhumli village of Ahmedabad district. Passionate about photography and reading, he is also associated with many institutions like the Gujarat Law Society, Gujarat Vishwa Kosh, Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan, Textile Traders Cooperative Bank, Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association at Mumbai, Development of Council for Textile Machinery Industry of Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Gujarat Cancer Society, the Gujarat Diabetes Association and Andh Kanya Prakash Gruh.
Bhagwati has also set up many joint venture companies with foreign collaborations such as Trumac Engineering, Zinser Textile Systems and others.

As a part of restructuring of ownership of ATE Group between the family, the group holding company ATE Private Limited, is now owned by his cousin brother, Atul Bhagwati and family.