Mahashay Dharampal Gulati, the owner of the iconic spice brand MDH (Mahashian Di Hatti), passed away on Thursday, news agency ANI reported. He was 98.
According to reports, he was undergoing treatment at Chanan Devi Hospital for the past few weeks and suffered a cardiac arrest on Thursday morning.
‘Mahashay’ Dharampal Gulati has been the face of Mahashian Di Hatti, popularly known by its abbreviated name MDH, for years, featuring on its packets and appearing in its advertisements.
According to MDH website, he was born on March 27, 1923 in Sialkot in undivided India. Dharampal left school before completing 5th class. He set up a small business with his father 'Mahashay' Chunnilal in 1937 and later joined the parental business of spices under the name of 'Mahashian Di Hatti'. The family was popularly known as ‘Deggi Mirch Wale‘ people in Sialkot.
After partition, Gulati migrated to Delhi, purchased a Tonga and drove it from New Delhi Railway Station to Qutab Road and Karol Bagh to Bara Hindu Rao to earn his living. Later, he sold his tonga, bought a small shop and started his business of spices under the banner of 'Mahashian Di Hatti of Sialkot Deggi Mirch Wale‘ which later became a multi-billion rupee empire of MDH.
The company was officially set up in Delhi in 1959 after Gulati legally purchased land in Kirti Nagar and started the manufacturing unit.‘Mahashay’ Dharampal Gulati was named the FMCG sector's highest paid CEO in 2017 with Rs 21 crore as annual salary. Besides his Rs 1500-crore spices empire, the family also runs a charitable trust which has about 20 schools and a hospital.
