30 Facts About Raosaheb Gogte

Balkrishna Mahadev Gogte, known colloquially as Raosaheb Gogte, was an Indian lawyer, industrialist, philanthropist and educationist.

Raosaheb Gogte gave his name to the Gogte Institute of Technology, Gogte College of Commerce, the Gogte Hall at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana in Dadar, Mumbai, the Gogte Suite at the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai, the Gogte Hall at the Belgaum Chamber of Commerce, and the Gogte Circle in Belgaum.

Raosaheb Gogte was born the eldest of five children, he had two younger brothers and two younger sisters.

Raosaheb Gogte was a great-uncle of poet Rashmi Parekh, the granddaughter of his brother Vasudev through his second daughter Madhuri.

Raosaheb Gogte then moved to Mumbai to work at the Bombay High Court for a year.

Raosaheb Gogte was the younger sister of his cousin's wife, and they were engaged shortly after their acquaintance.

In 1936, at the age of twenty one, Raosaheb Gogte began his practice as an advocate in Belgaum.

Raosaheb Gogte's defense got them acquitted, but Gogte's failure to secure the fees for his service led the women to offer him two Rampuri knives they had made as payment.

Around this time, Raosaheb Gogte was acquitted on a false charge of misappropriating sheets of irons given to him by the Iron and Steel Controller of Belgaum.

Raosaheb Gogte would continue to legally represent various sectors of the transport industry into the 1950s.

In between 1945 and 1948, Raosaheb Gogte next ventured, yet again unsuccessfully, into setting up a Steel rolling mill in Karad.

In 1952, Raosaheb Gogte got involved in the business of transporting mackerel from the coasts of Karwar to inner Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Between 1961 and 1964, the mining company continued to function at a loss, and so Raosaheb Gogte ventured to secure orders from Japan.

Raosaheb Gogte tasked his brother Vasudev with its management, who would apply French and Tunisian techniques of salt production at the works.

In 1966, Raosaheb Gogte was made a patron of the Karnatak Law Society, and the Raosaheb Gogte College of Commerce was named in his honour.

In 1972, Raosaheb Gogte was elected president of the Belgaum Chamber of Commerce, and would run campaigns across rural and urban Belgaum with the chamber to attract entrepreneurs to set up small-scale industries in their localities.

In 1977, Raosaheb Gogte was the subject of a festschrift, and in 1978, tried to establish a paper mill in the Chandrapur district with the help of Vasantdada Patil, but the venture was unsuccessful.

Around the same time, Raosaheb Gogte ventured into establishing an inner-city bus service for Belgaum.

Raosaheb Gogte controversially won the license from the Regional Transport Authority for the scheme after producing a letter from then Minister of Home Affairs, Morarji Desai, disapproving of small municipalities having jurisdiction over transport services in cities.

In 1979, Raosaheb Gogte further made financial contributions to the Karnatak Law Society, who in-turn honoured him by naming the Raosaheb Gogte Institute of Technology after him.

On 17 May 1980, Raosaheb Gogte established Raosaheb Gogte Textiles, venturing into textiles.

In 1980, Raosaheb Gogte went on to become president of the Indo-Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and worked on developing the Konkan region with Saudi Arabian investment.

When Gandhi requested Raosaheb Gogte to arrange a visit to the mills, the mill workers went on strike.

Raosaheb Gogte served his third consecutive term as chairman of NITIE till 1994.

Raosaheb Gogte had suffered from spondylitis since 1976, having undergone successful operation for it.

Raosaheb Gogte gave financial support to the Marathi and Kannada film industries.

Raosaheb Gogte died in Belgaum, Karnataka, on 26 February 2000, aged 83.

Raosaheb Gogte was survived by his wife until her own death in 2007, his three sons and their families: seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren at the time; his younger brother Vaman and sister Leela survived him, as well as the descendants of all his siblings.

Raosaheb Gogte was survived in business by his three sons and three grandsons.

Raosaheb Gogte is the namesake of the Raosaheb Gogte College of Commerce, and the Gogte Circle in Belgaum.