Panel Discussion on the Past, Present and Future of Bengali run Businesses on the occasion of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray’s 161st Birth Anniversary on 2nd August,2022 at The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata, India organized by Bengal Business Council, an organization of Bengali-run business establishments which include credible business organizations from diverse sectors. The Discussion panel includes eminent personalities like Dr. Syamal Chakrabarty (Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Calcutta Researcher and Author of Books on Acharya Prafulla Ch. Ray), Swami Suparnananda Maharaj (Secretary, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture), Debarshi Duttagupta (Managing Director, East India Pharmaceutical Works Ltd.), Hirak Bhattacharjee (Director, Shalimar's), Avelo Roy (Managing Director, Kolkata Ventures), Subhashis Dutt (Partner, Mohendra Dutt& Sons) and moderated by Sourav Chunder, Advocate, Calcutta High Court and co-moderated by Sulagna Ray Bhattacharjee, Odissi dance Exponent.
Acharya Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray, CIE, FNI, FRASB, FIAS, FCS (also spelled Prafulla Chandra Rây and Prafulla Chandra Roy. Praphulla Chandra Rāy; 2 August 1861 – 16 June 1944) was an eminent Indian chemist, educationist, historian, industrialist and philanthropist. He established the first modern Indian research school in chemistry (post classical age) and is regarded as the father of chemical science in India. Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd., India’s Oldest Pharmaceutical Company was established in Kolkata, West Bengal in 1901 by Prafulla Chandra Ray, it is India's first government owned-pharmaceutical enterprise. While initially successful, the company started making losses in the mid-1950s. The management of the company was taken over by the Union government on 15 December 1977, and the company was nationalized on 15 December 1980. Following decades of losses, BCPL returned to profitability in financial year 2016–17. The Royal Society of Chemistry honored his life and work with the first ever Chemical Landmark Plaque outside Europe. He was the founder of Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, India's first pharmaceutical company. He is the author of A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century (1902). A Panel Discussion on the Past, Present and Future of Bengali run Businesses on the occasion of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray’s 161st Birth Anniversary has been organized by Bengal Business Council, a newly formed organization of Bengali-run business establishments which include credible business organizations from diverse sectors. The intention is to bring together Bengali business houses from all over the world to develop camaraderie and trust and imbibe the sense of entrepreneurship in the Bengali community.