The Founder : Arutchelvar Dr. N. Mahalingam
Arutchelvar Dr. N Mahalingam was the Founder Chairman of Sakthi Group with a business turnover of Rs 6,000 crore industrial conglomerate operating in Sugar, Automobiles, Finance, Dairy, Power, Logistics etc. Dr. N. Mahalingam was a Philanthropist, Educationalist and a politician. He had established a number of educational institutions and is known for his support to various spiritual and cultural organisations. He was born on 21 March, 1923 in an agriculture family at Pollachi to P. Nachimuthu Gounder, who started the Sakthi Group in 1921. Dr. N.Mahalingam joined the business in 1943 and spearheaded the business in various fields and grown to the current level.
He was the founder of many educational institutions, from schools to colleges. Some of the educational institutions established by him are Kumaraguru College of Technology, Dr Mahalaingam College of Engineering & Technology, Nachimuthu Polytechnic College, Sakthi Polytechnic College, NGM College, Vanavarayar Institute of Agriculture, Kumaraguru Institute of Agriculture. The recent addition to the group is Kumaraguru College of Liberal Arts and Science, established in 2018.
He held several important positions and played major roles fostering the development of agricultural, industrial, human resource and institutional development at the State and National levels. He served as a Member of Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu for 15 years from 1952 to 1967 and was a member of Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission for two terms. His social and humanitarian considerations took his journey beyond the boundaries of industries and scholarly tenets he nurtured.
