Panditrao Agashe

Jagdish "Panditrao" Agashe (1936 – November 16, 1986 in Pune) was an Indian businessman, best remembered for succeeding his father Chandrashekhar Agashe as the second managing director of the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate. The Panditrao Agashe School in Pune is named in his honour.
== Biography ==
=== Early life and family: 1936–1956 ===
Agashe was born in 1936, into an aristocratic and entrepreneurial Chitpavan brahmin family of industrialist Chandrashekhar Agashe and wife Indirabai Agashe (née Dwarka Gokhale). He was the fourth of nine children, and second son (eldest surviving), born to his parents. Given the name Jagdish at birth, he was known for most of his professional and personal life as Panditrao, a nickname given to him by his sisters.
Agashe's father founded the Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate in 1934, and after his death in 1956, Agashe took up the management of the company at age 20. He had matriculated high school, and was made the managing director of the syndicate by 1957.
Agashe never married. Through his brother Dnyaneshwar Agashe, he was a paternal uncle to Mandar Agashe, Ashutosh Agashe and Sheetal Agashe. Some of Agashe's other prominent relations include musician Ashutosh Phatak, historian Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum|Dr. Dinkar Kelkar, scientist P. K. Kelkar, and Third Anglo-Maratha War general Bapu Gokhale.
=== Career at the syndicate: 1956–1986 ===
Agashe's father left the syndicate to him in a strong position, with several senior managers of the company aiding Agashe, given his considerable youth until 1958. Between 1958 and 1966, the syndicate continued regular operation under Agashe's management, during which time he financially aided several farming communities around the Malshiras taluka, including those regions affected by the Panshet dam flood in 1961. 
The later half of the 1960s saw Agashe battle the Government of Maharashtra's Socialism in India land acquisition schemes, which he ultimately lost, relinquishing several thousand acres of syndicate owned land to the Government of India. By 1967, Agashe's brother Dnyaneshwar had joined the management of the syndicate, and futher founded the Suvarna Sahakari Bank in 1969, of which Agashe was a director. 
In the early 1970s, Agashe established the printing press in Shaniwar Peth, naming it after his nephew Mandar. Beginning in the 1970s, under Agashe and his brother, the syndicate manufactured liquor in Shreepur, Maharashtra, specialising in whisky production under its several flagship brands. The syndciate was one of the first companies to produce a range of government-approved liquors after the Maharashtra state prohibition, called Indian Made Foreign Liquor. By the early 1980s, under Agashe's management, the syndicate also briefly engaged in the business of metal printing. In 1984, Agashe survived a heart attack, having been a heavy smoker for most of his life.
=== Death and legacy: 1986 ===
Agashe died on November 16, 1986 from a heart attack at the family residence in Shaniwar Peth. His younger brother and nephews survived him in business. The Panditrao Agashe School in Pune was named in his honour.
Category:1936 births
Category:1986 deaths
Category:Businesspeople from Pune
Category:Indian industrialists