East India Company isn’t dead: How an IIM alumnus brought the colonial giant back to life

The East India Company — the same corporation that once ruled large parts of India — isn’t fading away again. Despite recent reports suggesting it had shut down, its current chairman says the historic brand is very much alive.

A day after claims surfaced that the company was being wound up, chairman Sanjiv Mehta dismissed the speculation. He clarified that the holding company and brand assets remain secure and that the business is undergoing a major investor-led restructuring aimed at long-term growth.

“The East India Company is very much alive. The brand-owning and holding entities remain intact, and all intellectual property and core brand assets are fully preserved,” Mehta told PTI. He added that the company is completing a comprehensive restructuring process to strengthen its future.


The original East India Company, founded in 1600, became synonymous with British colonial rule in India before being dissolved in 1874. Now, in a striking twist of history, the revived brand is led by Mumbai-born entrepreneur Sanjiv Mehta, who acquired it in 2005.

Who is Sanjiv Mehta?

Born in Mumbai in October 1961 into a Gujarati Jain family, Mehta grew up in a business-oriented environment. His grandfather, Gafurchand Mehta, had established a diamond trading venture in Belgium in the 1920s before the family returned to India in 1938.

Mehta studied at Sydenham College in Mumbai and later attended Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. He also trained at the Gemological Institute of America in Los Angeles.

In the 1980s, he moved to London and began an export business from his home. One of his early successes came from selling “Huggie” hot water bottles, which helped build his entrepreneurial base.

How the IIM graduate brought East India Company

In the early 2000s, Mehta encountered the East India Company brand, which by then had been reduced to a modest tea and coffee business. Although the company had disappeared from global trade long ago, its name had been revived in the 1980s with permission from the British monarchy.

Mehta saw potential beyond tea. In a 2016 interview with The Economic Times, he recalled purchasing an initial 21% stake in just 20 minutes — a symbolic moment in which an Indian businessman began acquiring a 400-year-old British institution.

He then spent 18 months researching the company’s past, studying archives at the British Library and the Victoria and Albert Museum before completing the acquisition in 2005.

Reflecting on the move, Mehta described himself as a custodian rather than a creator of the brand. He has often said the revival carries emotional significance — a reversal of colonial history.

In 2010, Mehta relaunched the East India Company in London with a luxury retail store, choosing to open it on the same date the original company had been dissolved 135 years earlier.

The new EIC positioned itself as a premium heritage brand, offering high-end teas, gourmet foods, gold coins, and collectible items that blend history with luxury.

In 2011, the Mahindra Group, led by Anand Mahindra, acquired a minority stake in the company. Mahindra described the revival as a symbolic moment — a chance to “turn history upside down.”

The company has since collaborated with institutions such as the Royal Mint to produce commemorative gold coins bearing both the monarch’s profile and the East India Company insignia.

Where It Stands Now

Amid recent speculation about its closure, Mehta insists the company is simply navigating restructuring, not disappearing. He described the controversy as “a storm in a teacup,” expressing confidence that the brand will continue beyond its current challenges.

From colonial powerhouse to dissolved relic — and now to a revived luxury label led by an Indian entrepreneur — the East India Company’s story has taken a full-circle turn few could have imagined.