Travancore Rayons, Perumbavoor: Rise and Closure

Ashraf Gents Hostel

Key facts

Travancore Rayons Limited was founded in 1944 by the Madras industrialist M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettiar, with help from Diwan Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, according to Wikipedia.
Onmanorama reported that the company became operational in 1950 and described it as widely regarded as Asia’s first rayon manufacturer.
Chidambaram Chettiar died in an air crash at Kallang Airport, Singapore, on 13 March 1954.
A KINFRA tender dated 17 February 2023 said KINFRA was in the process of taking over 68 acres of the erstwhile Travancore Rayons land at Perumbavoor for an industrial park.

The Aluva Manappuram Siva temple with its tiled roof on the sandy riverbank. Photo: Vis M / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

A princely-state project

In the late 1930s and 1940s Travancore set out to industrialise, using hydroelectric power and the Periyar’s water. The Diwan, Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, courted industrialists from outside the state. One of them was M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettiar of Madras, founder of Indian Overseas Bank in 1937. According to Wikipedia, he founded Travancore Rayons Limited in 1944, near Perumbavoor, with help from the Diwan and British technical expertise. Onmanorama adds that the Diwan acted at the request of the Maharaja, Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma.

Rayon is a semi-synthetic fibre made from cellulose, usually wood pulp. A rayon plant needs large amounts of water, chemicals such as caustic soda and a steady supply of pulpwood, all of which the Periyar valley could offer. The same industrial push produced the plants around Kalamassery and Eloor described in our mills and factories guide and Udyogamandal history.

Timeline

Date	What happened	Source
10 Feb 1937	Chidambaram Chettiar founds Indian Overseas Bank	Wikipedia
1944	Travancore Rayons Limited founded near Perumbavoor	Wikipedia
1950	Company becomes operational	Onmanorama
13 Mar 1954	Chettiar dies in the BOAC crash at Kallang, Singapore	Wikipedia
Not confirmed	Production stops; the company becomes defunct	Onmanorama (no date given)
17 Feb 2023	KINFRA tender says it is taking over 68 acres of the erstwhile Travancore Rayons land	KINFRA

Production and reputation

Sources describe the factory’s place in history in slightly different words. Wikipedia calls it “the first rayon manufacturing company in India”; Onmanorama says it was “widely regarded as Asia’s first” rayon company. Both agree that it was a pioneer, and Onmanorama notes that it soon became a thriving business, after which Chettiar turned to other projects, including the building on Mount Road in Madras that later became the LIC Building.

Chettiar did not live to see much of that. He died on 13 March 1954, aged 45, when a BOAC Lockheed Constellation from Jakarta crashed while landing at Kallang Airport, Singapore. Wikipedia records 33 deaths among the 40 people on board.

We did not find a reliable source for the factory’s workforce, output or exact product range across the decades, so we have not given figures.

Decline and closure

Onmanorama, writing on 2 April 2023, called Travancore Rayons “now-defunct” and said it had “slipped into oblivion”, while a statue of Chettiar still stands on the premises. The photographs with that report show an abandoned factory.

We could not confirm the year production stopped, or the circumstances of the closure, from the sources we opened. Dates circulate online, but none that we could verify, so we have left them out.

Other early factories in the Periyar belt have also closed or shrunk, as our pages on Alupuram’s aluminium smelter and Binani Zinc at Edayar show.

The site today

In a request for proposals dated 17 February 2023, the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) listed “KINFRA Industrial Park, Perumbavoor (Erstwhile Travancore Rayons – 68 acres)” among four parks needing master plans. The tender document said KINFRA was “in process of taking over 68 acres of land from erstwhile Travancore Rayons at Perumbavoor … as per Govt procedures” and asked consultants to plan the whole area as an industrial park. As of October 2026 we have not verified whether the transfer has been completed.

Perumbavoor itself has moved on to a different industry. Wikipedia describes it as a centre of the plywood industry, with over 1,000 wood-based units in and around the town, many of them employing migrant workers, a story touched on in our migrant workers history.

Why it matters from the NAD signal

Perumbavoor lies east of Kalamassery, and its plywood and industrial belt is within commuting range of the NAD signal. For anyone at Ashraf Gents Hostel curious about the factories they pass, this is part of the same story as Kalamassery’s industrial past. More is in the Kalamassery history archive.

Frequently asked questions

When was Travancore Rayons founded?

Wikipedia gives 1944, founded by M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettiar with help from Diwan C. P. Ramaswami Iyer. Onmanorama says it became operational in 1950.

Where was Travancore Rayons?

Near Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district, on land of about 68 acres, according to KINFRA.

Is Travancore Rayons still working?

No. Onmanorama described it as defunct in 2023, with an abandoned factory and a statue of its founder still on the premises.

When did it close?

We could not confirm the closure year from reliable sources, so this page does not give one.

What is planned for the site?

A KINFRA tender of 17 February 2023 said KINFRA was taking over the 68 acres to develop an industrial park.

Sources

Facts about Ashraf Gents Hostel come from the hostel’s own profile and photos; rates are indicative and confirmed on the call. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. How we write these guides: editorial notes. Map embeds © Google.

Cite this guide: Ashraf Gents Hostel. “Travancore Rayons, Perumbavoor: Rise and Closure.” Published 8 October 2026. https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/travancore-rayons-history/ Plain-text (Markdown) version · quoting with a link back is welcome.