Inox Group

Origins (1920s–1970s)

The Jain family's business involvement began in the 1920s, when Siddhomal Jain established Siddhomal and Sons, a paper and newsprint trading business. In the 1960s his son, Devendra Kumar Jain, moved from trading into manufacturing, establishing Industrial Oxygen Co. Pvt. Ltd. in Pune in 1963 to extract, liquefy and sell gases from natural air for the steel, manufacturing and healthcare sectors. In 1976, Baroda Oxygen Limited was incorporated in Gujarat; it was renamed INOX India Limited in 1987 and later adopted the brand INOXCVA. The company became a manufacturer of cryogenic tanks and equipment for the storage, transportation and distribution of liquefied gases.

Diversification (1980s–2000s)

In 1987, the family incorporated Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited (GFL) as a refrigerants manufacturer; it later built a large integrated chemical complex at Dahej, Gujarat (2007–08) and diversified into fluoropolymers, becoming India's only PTFE/fluoropolymer manufacturer. In 1999, the group entered a joint venture with Air Products & Chemicals Inc. of the United States, which acquired a 50 per cent stake in the industrial gases business in Industrial Oxygen Co. Pvt. Ltd., the venture, INOX Air Products, grew into India's largest manufacturer of industrial and medical gases, operating over 50 plants across the country. The family also entered the film exhibition business: Inox Leisure Limited was incorporated in November 1999 and opened its first multiplex in Pune in May 2002. Through the acquisitions of the Fame (2012) and Satyam (2014) cinema chains, Inox Leisure became India's second-largest multiplex operator.

Renewables and growth (2009–2020)

In 2009, the group diversified into wind energy through Inox Wind Limited, promoted by Vivek Jain's son Devansh Jain. Inox Wind became a fully integrated wind energy solutions provider and was listed on the stock exchanges in 2015. The business grew rapidly between 2010 and 2016, but a 2017 regulatory shift from feed-in tariffs to competitive bidding led to a prolonged downturn in the Indian wind sector, during which Inox Wind's debt rose sharply before a recovery driven by promoter capital infusions. Gujarat Fluorochemicals also expanded internationally, incorporating subsidiaries in the Americas (2009) and Germany (2013), and entering a joint venture in China for anhydrous hydrogen fluoride.

Family settlement and split (2021)

In November 2021, following a family accord signed by the then 92-year-old patriarch Devendra Kumar Jain, the century-old group formally divided its businesses between his two sons.

• Pavan Jain, the elder son, based in Mumbai, retained the industrial gases business (Inox Air Products), the cryogenic equipment business (Inox India / INOXCVA) and the listed multiplex company Inox Leisure. His son Siddharth Jain oversees these businesses, which are grouped under the "Inox Group" name.
• Vivek Jain, the younger son, based in New Delhi, received the specialty chemicals and renewable energy portfolio — Gujarat Fluorochemicals, Inox Wind and Inox Wind Energy — rebranded as the INOXGFL Group. His son Devansh Jain leads the renewables business.

Vivek Jain's family controls about 66 per cent of Gujarat Fluorochemicals, 67 per cent of Inox Wind and 69 per cent of Inox Wind Energy; the Pavan Jain family holds roughly 30 per cent each of Inox Leisure and Inox Air Products, with minor cross-holdings remaining between the two branches. The two branches do not have a non-compete arrangement.

Recent developments (2022–present)

• In 2022, Inox Green Energy Services, the wind operations-and-maintenance arm of Inox Wind, was listed on the Indian stock exchanges; it has been described as the world's first listed pure-play wind O&M company. In March 2022, Inox Leisure and PVR Ltd announced an all-stock merger, with INOX shareholders receiving 3 PVR shares for every 10 INOX shares.
• In 2023, the Inox Leisure–PVR merger became effective on 6 February 2023 after National Company Law Tribunal approval, creating PVR INOX Limited — India's largest multiplex chain, with over 1,600 screens. The erstwhile INOX promoters became co-promoters with a 16.66 per cent stake, and Pavan Jain became non-executive chairman of the merged entity. In December 2023, INOXCVA (Inox India Limited) was listed via a ₹1,459-crore initial public offering (entirely an offer for sale) at ₹627–660 per share, valuing the company at about ₹5,990 crore.
• From 2023, the INOXGFL branch expanded into solar manufacturing and green energy, establishing Inox Clean Energy, Inox Solar and Inox Neo Energies, and carving out new GFL subsidiaries for EV battery chemicals (GFCL EV Products) and solar/green-hydrogen fluoropolymers (GFCL Solar & Green Hydrogen Products). Inox Wind returned to profitability after a capital infusion by its parent Inox Wind Energy, which is being amalgamated into Inox Wind.