In 1882, a music composer and distinguished Pakhwaj instrumentalist named Mohendra Dutt walked into a commercial premise on Harrison Road — today known as Mahatma Gandhi Road — in Kolkata, and quietly became the pioneer of umbrella manufacturing in India. That combination of artist and industrialist is an unlikely origin story. But it produced something that has outlasted most businesses built in the same era — a family enterprise now in its fifth generation, still manufacturing, still expanding, and still rooted in the same city where it began.
The Dynasty by Generation
The story of Mohendra Dutt and Sons is best understood as a relay — each generation receiving what the previous one built and adding something distinctly their own.
After Mohendra Dutt’s demise, his wife Radharani Devi held the business together until their son Bhawani Charan Dutt took charge in 1909. Bhawani Charan did not simply inherit — he expanded. He imported new machines and raw materials, refusing to compromise on quality while growing both production capacity and geographical reach.
His son Ashutosh Dutt joined the business in 1946 and became arguably its most multidimensional steward. Leaving behind engineering studies to commit fully to the family enterprise, Ashutosh built Mohendra Dutt and Sons into a serious manufacturing operation while simultaneously carving a name in construction, printing, and film production. He served as an executive committee member of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and as Chairman of the Umbrella Merchants Association, founding several traders’ associations to protect the interests of small and medium businesses across West Bengal. His legacy extended well beyond the family balance sheet.
When Ashutosh passed away, his son Kalinath Dutt — at just 28 years of age — stepped into a role that would have been daunting for anyone. Rather than consolidate, Kalinath expanded the product portfolio decisively — introducing rainwear, rubber products, travel backpacks, and a range of travel accessories, transforming the company from a single-product umbrella manufacturer into a broader lifestyle and travel accessories brand. Under his leadership the business saw heightened growth, brand upliftment, and product differentiation in what he accurately describes as a highly competitive market.
Today Kalinath runs the company alongside his son Subhashis Dutt — the fifth generation — who has brought formal business education and modern management systems into an organisation that has been running for over a century. It is Subhashis who introduced the technological infrastructure and digital systems the company now operates on, while maintaining the quality commitments and client relationships that have been the brand’s foundation since 1882.
The Brand Today
Mohendra Dutt and Sons today operates across umbrellas — gents, ladies, kids, and unisex — rainwear including long coats and suits for men, women, and children, bags including backpacks, ladies bags, and children’s bags, and wind cheaters and jackets. The company serves both the retail consumer and a pan-India corporate clientele through bulk and business orders, with an expanding company-owned retail network, extensive dealership and distribution channels, and a growing online presence through its own ecommerce platform at mohendradutt.com.
What Mohendra Dutt and Sons represents in Bengal’s business story is something that no amount of investment or marketing spend can replicate — the compounding of quality, trust, and institutional knowledge across five generations of one family. The umbrella that Mohendra Dutt began manufacturing in 1882 is still at the centre of the business. Everything built around it since has been an extension of that original commitment to craft.
One hundred and forty-three years. Five generations. One product that started it all.
Sources: Mohendra Dutt and Sons official legacy page (mohendradutt.com).
