ABOUT

Maratt Group

75 years of entrepreneurship and going strong. Three generations of entrepreneurs exploring their potential and creating a niche for themselves uniquely in various fields.

Legacy

Late Kuncheria T. Marattukalam foresaw huge potential in the banking domain and the need to provide quick and inexpensive finance to the middle and lower income groups in Kerala. In 1937, he converted this into reality - The Catholic Bank of India was born.

It is said that once while admiring the sheer beauty of the meandering waterways and backwaters of Kerala, he suddenly realized that he had the answer to the acute transportation problems facing the State. The journey of the idea to create a profitable, yet socially relevant venture began in the early 1940s - The Kerala Boat Service, creating an inexpensive mode of transportation for the masses by leveraging on the region & abundant natural resources - the backwaters. This service was soon to become the largest backwater boat service in Kerala, boasting of an efficient fleet of boats, including Jalarani - the biggest boat of its time.

It was around this period that the automobile industry in the country was registering rapid progress. This again represented an opportunity. The strategic acquisition in 1946 of a Rubber factory in Changanacherry, Kerala, which was then into the manufacture of balloons, helped us diversify into the high potential and lucrative manufacture of Camelback (tyre retreading material). By the end of the 60s, Ruby Rubber Works was the second largest manufacturer of Camelback in India. This spurred us to venture into the manufacture of cycle tyres in the early 60s, another pioneering effort. Factories were set up in Chennai and Changanacherry, for its manufacture. We were the first, and the largest Indian manufacturer of cycle tyres. We can also take credit in pioneering cocoa cultivation in the organized sector in India. The success of this venture encouraged many others to follow suit.

By the 70s, the foam rubber industry was being touted as a sunrise industry in India. Therefore diversifying into the manufacture of foam products was but only a natural progression for us under the stewardship of M. K. Marattukalam, son of Kuncheria T. Marattukalam. Ultra modern manufacturing facilities were soon set up in Chennai and Bangalore. In the 80s we ventured into the manufacture of Latex Concentrates - these being raw materials for the Foam Rubber, Rubberized Coir and Latex Glove Industries by setting up a modern factory in Nilambur, Kerala.

Way Forward

Early 2000 provided us with another diverse business opportunity- the booming real estate market in India. Prime real estate holdings in Bangalore helped us leverage on this opportunity, through a joint venture with Mantri Developers. The result - a 228 apartment project called Mantri Elite. The project was completed in just two years and was sold out in record time. We launched our solo real estate ventures with “Pimento”- an iconic 25 storey residential tower in South Bangalore and Knowledge @ Maratt, a half a million sft LEED certified Grade “A” office space building at Smartcity SEZ in Kochi. The vision of this vertical is to develop iconic and design centric developments mainly in the residential space.

We also have a vertical into F&B with “URU” a disruptive F&B experience; a restaurant and brewery spread over 1.5 acres of lung space in JP Nagar, Bangalore. Further an entry into the cloud kitchens space has happened with Flayvor Co. and the resultant launch of 5 cloud kitchen brands under its umbrella. Presently we have active verticals in Property development, F&B and Plantations.