Nusli N. Wadia and Family

Britannia has been in Indian homes for over a century. Nusli Wadia's job has been to keep it there.

The Wadia family's commercial history stretches back to the 18th century, when the family built ships for the East India Company. Britannia Industries, the group's most prominent current business, produces over a million tonnes of biscuits, bread and dairy products annually, with brands like Good Day and Marie Gold present in households across the country. It is among India's most distributed consumer food companies, reaching markets that require cold-chain logistics, deep rural distribution and consistent quality at price points the mass market will actually pay.

Nusli Wadia has run the group through several decades of corporate and legal contest. His reputation is that of a proprietor who fights for control of what he owns and does not easily accommodate interference from outside shareholders or partners. Britannia's sustained market leadership in a category where multinationals compete aggressively suggests that the underlying business has been run with competence independent of whatever controversy surrounded its owner.