Godrej Family Divided, Leaving Listed Firms for Adi and Brother, Unlisted Companies for Jamshyd, Land Bank

The 127-year-old Godrej Group’s founding family has agreed to split the conglomerate: cousins Jamshyd and Smita will receive unlisted Godrej & Boyce and its affiliates, along with a land bank that includes prime real estate in Mumbai, while Adi Godrej and his brother Nadir will retain Godrej Industries, which has five listed companies.

According to a statement released by the organization, the group is divided between two branches of the founding family: Adi Godrej (82) and his brother Nadir (73) on one side and his cousins Jamshyd Godrej (75) and Smita Godrej Crishna (74), on the other.

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Jamshyd Godrej will serve as chairman and managing director of Godrej Enterprises Group, which is made up of Godrej & Boyce and its affiliates and operates in a variety of sectors, including aerospace and aviation, defense, furniture, and IT software. Nyrika Holkar, 42, the daughter of his sister Smita, will serve as the executive director.

This arm, which will also hold the land bank and 3,400 acres of prime Mumbai property, would be in the hands of their families.

Nadir Godrej will serve as chairman of the Godrej Industries Group, which is comprised of the listed firms Godrej Industries, Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Properties, Godrej Agrovet, and Astec Lifesciences. Adi, Nadir, and their immediate families will have authority over the group.

According to the announcement, Pirojsha Godrej, 42, the son of Adi, would take over as GIG’s executive vice chair in August 2026, replacing Nadir in that role.

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The two sides resigned from the boards of businesses in opposing camps in order to facilitate the separation. Thus, Jamshyd Godrej resigned from the boards of GCPL and Godrej Properties, while Adi and Nadir Godrej resigned from the Godrej & Boyce Board.

According to unsubstantiated rumors, Adi and Nadir Godrej will transfer their ownership of Godrej & Boyce to the other branch. Through a familial agreement, Jamshyd Godrej and his family will give their relatives shares in Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) and Godrej Properties.

The ownership rights to real estate valued at crores of rupees, most of which are situated on great property in the suburbs of Mumbai, will continue to be governed by Godrej & Boyce (G&B) under a separate arrangement that will be negotiated.

Its land holdings in Mumbai are 3,400 acres, of which 3,000 acres are in Vikhroli. Some estimates place the development potential of the Vikhroli site at well above Rs 1 lakh crore. It has the potential to grow to 1,000 acres, of which 1,750 are covered in mangroves and are home to unique flora and birds. There have already been around 300 acres of land encroached upon.

In 1941–1942, Pirojsha purchased the Vikhroli property from the Bombay High Court receiver in a public auction. Prior to that, in the 1830s, it was purchased from the East India Company by Parsi businessman Framjee Banaji.

Adi is the Godrej Group’s chairman at the moment. Nadir, his brother, is the chairman of Godrej Agrovet and Godrej Industries. The chairman of the unlisted Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing firm is their relative, Jamshyd. The majority of the land in Vikhroli is owned by Godrej & Boyce, which is also partially owned by his sisters Smita Crishna and Rishad Godrej.

A few years ago, Jamshyd asked lawyer Zia Mody and investment banker Nimesh Kampani for advice on how to split up the land ownership. Adi was being helped by Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank and Cyril Shroff of the law company Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.

Godrej Family Divorced
In a statement, the Godrej family described the separation as “an ownership realignment” of the shareholdings in the Godrej businesses. “To preserve harmony and better align ownership in recognition of the different visions of the Godrej family members, the realignment has been reached in a respectful and thoughtful manner,” the statement said.

“This will expedite the process of creating long-term value for shareholders and all other stakeholders and help maximize strategic direction, focus, and agility.”

Both groups are dedicated to enhancing and fortifying their common legacy and will keep using the Godrej brand. Ardeshir Godrej, a lawyer turned serial entrepreneur, and his brother had failed at making handcrafted medical gadgets until finding success in locksmithing in 1897.

Since Ardeshir never had children, his younger brother, Pirojsha, inherited the group. The four children of Pirojsha are Sohrab, Dosa, Burjor, and Naval. Over time, the children of Burjor (Adi and Nadir) and Naval (Jamshyd and Smita) took leadership roles in the group since Sohrab was childless and Dosa had just one kid, Rishad, who was also childless.