Born on July 4, 1907 in Denmark, Mr. Holck-Larsen was educated at the University of Copenhagen. He came to India in 1937. A year later, in 1938, he and his former schoolmate, Soren Kristian Toubro, set up the partnership firm that was soon to establish itself as one of the country's front-ranking industrial organisations. L&T's distinctive place in Indian industry, its spectacular record of achievements and its unique character are due, in great measure to Mr. Holck-Larsen's inspirational leadership. The company's strong customer orientation and its professionalism can also be traced to the values he instilled. "It is our ability to anticipate the future and react accordingly that will determine our success," he once said. He was perhaps the only foreign industrialist to have spent more than 60 years in India. On retirement from L&T, he was made chairman emeritus of the company and he divided his time between Denmark and India, and maintained a keen interest in the working of L&T.
Mr. Holck-Larsen received several prestigious awards, medals and honours — the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1976, a knighthood from Queen Margarethe II of Denmark in 1977, Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial Peace (1980), Chemtech Foundation's Chemical Industry Stalwart Award (2000), the Bombay Management Association's Lifetime Achievement Award (2001), a citation from the Indo-European Union Business Summit for promoting business beyond boundaries (2002), and the Padma Bhushan (2002) for his contribution to Indian industry. While accepting the Padma Bhushan from the then President, K.R. Narayanan, Mr. Holck-Larsen said: "India, my adopted homeland, has a special place in my heart. With the Padma Bhushan, I am happy to realise that I have a place in her heart too. I regard this honour as a tribute to the unique spirit of L&T, and the values it has always stood by: its professionalism, its commitment to quality and its concern for the entire community of stakeholders.''
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