be done by anyone other than British officials, the truly patriotic Walchand decided to break the tradition and the foundation stone for the shipyard was laid by Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 21 June 1941, who was acting Congress President at that time. It was named Scindia Shipyard Limited and its first product, the ship Jalusha was launched soon after independence by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1948. However, the shipyard came under government control a few months later (due to the presumed importance of the project to country's security and economic growth) and was fully nationalised in 1961 and was renamed Hindustan Shipyard Limited. Car factory As early as 1939, Walchand was interested in establishing a car factory in India. Birla family was also working in the same direction. In 1940, he signed an MOU with Chrysler but could not get clearances and concessions from the Mysore government unlike in the case of the aircraft company. In 1945, he established Premier Automobiles near Mumbai. Again in this venture his other partners were Dharamsey Mulraj Khatau and Tulsidas Kilachand, who were also Walchand's partners in Hindustan Aircraft. By 1948, the company started indigenisation in a small way with an in-house components department. The first car rolled out of his factory in 1949, thus beating Birla's Hindustan Motors venture in the race. In 1955, it tied up with Fiat and started manufacturing engines in India. By 1956, parts of chassis were locally made. Public life Walchand was one of the founder members of Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture and served as its president for eleven consecutive years from 1927 to 1938. Walchand was also the founder of Indian National Shipowners' Association, which was founded in 1929 and served as its president for 19 consecutive years from 1929 to 1948. He also helped launch of Indian Sugar Mills Association and the Indian Sugar Syndicate. He served as President of Indian Mechants' Chamber for years 1927–28. Also Walchand founded Deccan Sugar Factories Association and Deccan Sugar Technologists Association, whose first President was made his younger brother Lalchand and was also force behind institutions like Association of Indian Automobiles Manufacturers, the Automotive Research Association of India. Death In 1949, he suffered from a stroke and retired from business in 1950. He was looked after by his wife, Kasturbai passionately in his last years, who took him away to natural surroundings and religious town of Siddhpur