PARI co-founder Mangesh Kale passes away

Mangesh Kale, co-founder of Precision Automation and Robotics India (PARI) passed away in Pune on Wednesday. Kale had set up the company along with Ranjit Date in 1990.

PARI, which is a leading provider of turnkey solutions in industrial and robotic automation was sold to Wipro Infrastructure for an undisclosed sum in December 2020.

Anand Deshpande, founder of Persistent Systems, another Pune-headquartered firm tweeted saying this was a great personal loss.


“This is a great personal loss! Cannot forget my first meeting Bhosari in 1991 -- exchanging notes in the early days. A brilliant mind, amazing energy, extremely articulate and someone you could always count on. Life is so uncertain. Will miss @MangeshKale10,” he said.


Kale was among the pioneers in industrial automation in the company, growing PARI to be among the country’s largest firms in this segment. He was actively involved in local initiatives and was a member of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) Executive Committee for several years. He also chaired the Automation Committee and was played a leading role in the MCCIA ‘IT for Manufacturing’ initiative.

He studied Instrumentation and Control engineering at the College of Engineering Pune where he was a Gold Medalist.

PARI works with over 75 customers globally and has facilities in Pune and Detroit. It works with several large auto firms, including Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra in India, and global companies like BWM, Ford and Chrysler.