OP Munjal of Hero Cycles passes away

Om Prakash Munjal, one of the founders of the Hero Group Company, and chairman emeritus of Hero Cycles,  passed away earlier today in Ludhiana. He was 86.

On July 20, he had handed over the reins of the company to his son Pankaj Munjal.

The Hero Cycles factory was set up in 1956 in Ludhiana with a production capacity of 25 cycles a day. It now produces nearly 19,000 cycles every day. In 2014, the company set a record, producing more than 5.5 million cycles. It is to be noted that Hero Cycle announced its first international acquisition – of UK-based Cycle Company Avocet Sports – yesterday, thereby entering the European market.

The Munjal family had moved from Pakistan to Amritsar and then to Ludhiana in 1944, before India’s partition in 1947.

In 1986, Hero Cycles was recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the world’s largest maker of bicycles. The O P Munjal family also had an auto components business for some time.

OP Munjal, who was fond of poetry and literary activities, was also deeply involved in social services.