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It is not often that Pradip Burman has come into the limelight in recent years. Part of the family that owns Dabur, which has taken ayurveda beyond India, he now prefers spending his time in designing formulations and manufacturing of ayurvedic veterinary medicines.
Among other things, Dabur is known for creating iconic brands, such as Dabur Chyawanprash and Dabur Amla Hair Oil. The Burman family started in Kolkata and then moved headquarters to Kaushambi, Ghaziabad, in Uttar Pradesh. The area is commonly known as Dabur Chowk. Pradip Burman, born in 1942, completed undergraduate studies in mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge/Boston, USA, in 1965.
He joined the family business in what was then Calcutta as a management trainee in 1967, where he continued till 1970, getting training in ayurveda. In 1977, he became director of Dabur India Ltd, and designated overall profit centre head, a position he held for the next four years.
In 1991 he became chairman of Ayurvet, a marketing company that was responsible for the sales, distribution and promotion of herbal veterinary products of Dabur India.
In 1995, he set up Sanat Products, which produced spirulina. This is used as both a dietary supplement for humans and a feed supplement for fish and poultry. In the same year, he got back to Dabur India as a director. He was looking after the natural gum division at the Alwar works, and manufacture of guar gum, psyllium husk and veterinary medicines at the plant in Sahibabad and at Alwar. He was also chairman of the governing body (between August 1986 and June 1999) of PHDCCI-Rural Development Foundation, Delhi— a non-profit organisation looking after socio-economic activities in rural areas. In 2012, Burman decided to get out of his executive position on the Dabur India board as a director.
In a statement, Dabur said, “The Burman family is committed to the highest standards of corporate governance, and encourage ethical behaviour at all levels. We wish to state that this account was opened when he was an NRI, and was legally allowed to open this account. We have followed all the laws and the complete details regarding the account have been voluntarily, and as per law, filed with the Income-Tax Department, and appropriate taxes paid, wherever applicable. Therefore, it is unfortunate that every person having a foreign bank account is being painted with the same brush,” Dabur spokesperson.
