R. E. Grant Govan

Who was R. E. Grant Govan?

R.E. Grant Govan, CBE was a Delhi based British industrialist. He was the Managing Director of Govan Bros. Ltd., a leading business house of the time. The company was managing agents for a number of industrial enterprises. Grant Govan was a keen pilot and the founder of Indian National Airways Ltd, an aviation company formed in 1933 under Govan Bros Ltd. Apart from the airline, Govan Bros operated Delhi Flour Mills, set up Sugar Mills-Raza Buland at Rampura, and had a travel department, Govan Agencies. Apart from the airline, Govan had other interests in aviation, like the Delhi Flying Club which he founded in 1928.

R.E. Grant Govan was an avid sports enthusiast. He founded the Roshanara Cricket Club in Delhi, named after the nearby tomb of Roshanara Begum, with a group of friends in 1922. The club was officially inaugurated by Marquess of Reading in December 1922. Govan had the distinction of being both the founding President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 1928, a position he held till 1933 and the Cricket Club of India in 1933. He, along with then BCCI secretary Anthony De Mello, was instrumental in getting the BCCI affiliated to the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1928.