About Us – Sona Star

CONSULTING SOLUTIONS TO
VALUE PROPOSITION

Blending tomorrow’s technologies and business wisdom, we are a unit of friendly and helpful people with diverse talents from the stable of the century-old Sona Group. We believe that tomorrow is now. We formulate cost-effective solutions that would enable organisation to make transformational leaps and achieve their goals.

SONA GROUP'S PIONEERING IT IMPERATIVE

The Sona Group was instrumental in starting the IT revolution in Bengaluru. This began in the 1980s when the Valliappa Software Tech Park (VSTP, now called 'Sona Towers', Millers Road) was founded by Sona Group’s Chairman Shri C. Valliappa.

Sona Towers is where Texas Instruments, one of the first software MNCs to arrive in India, set up its software design centre. This was soon followed by Verifone, Oracle, Cisco and others, thus igniting the IT boom in Bengaluru. This is also where, in 1985, India's first satellite dish with up-linking facilities was installed, along with housing VSNL's earth station.

This initial impetus by Sona Group has now propelled Bengaluru into the Silicon Valley of India which houses all the major IT and electronic companies of the world.

OUR STORY

The Sona Group is steeped in more than 100 years of success and tradition tracing back to pre-Independence. The group was founded by the doyen of textile industries of the early twentieth century, Karumuttu Thiagarajar Chettiar.

The selfless vision, the noble principles, the mettle, the singleness of purpose, and the untiring industriousness of Karumuttu Thiagarajar Chettiar have been the solid foundational blocks upon which the towering success of the Sona Group has been built.

The Sona Group has since been toeing the same line of ideology and has emerged as a valuable global conglomerate of national importance.

OUR HISTORY

1920s

Sri Karumuttu Thiagarajar Chettiar was born in the Sivagangai district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency. Even as a young man, he ably stood for the rights of the plantation workers in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during his student years. His return to India in 1916 almost coincided with the return of Sri Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi from South Africa. His patriotic ardour caused him to immediately plunge into the independence movement. He subsequently joined the Indian National Congress and was elected as the president of its labour wing.

The seeds for the Sona Group were sown in the 1920s in pre-Independence India when the entire nation was beginning to be filled with indomitable nationalistic fervour for self-rule. Several leaders with a vision for an independent, prosperous India were making multifarious contributions in that direction. A prominent nationalistic voice that arose from the South during those times was Sri Karumuttu Thiagarajar Chettiar (June 16, 1893 – 29 July 1974), the founder of the Sona Group.

Sri Karumuttu Thiagarajar Chettiar’s house in Madurai was destined to play a momentous role in the freedom struggle and the history of India. It was here, in 1938, that Sri MK Gandhi happened to see the plight of the native daily wage workers. The impact of it was such that it transformed him into the Mahatma and the Father of the Nation who vowed to wear only a loincloth for the rest of his life and led him on to be a timeless icon of simplicity and humbleness.

The pressing needs of the pre-Independence and nascent India of his times were the indigenous industries, public education and economic institutions. With them in view, Sri Karumuttu Thiagarajar Chettiar went on to establish as many as eighteen textile mills and nineteen educational institutions across South India, along with the Bank of Madura and the Madurai Insurance Company. Among the educational institutes founded by him are the Thiagaraja Polytechnic College, the Thiagarajar College of Engineering, and the Thiagarajar School of Management which continue to stand for excellence in technical and entrepreneurial education.

1938

1950s

Inspired by the National Poet, Rabindranath Tagore, whom he happened to meet in Kolkata, Sri Karumuttu Thiagarajar Chettiar’s saga of philanthropy and ‘giving back to the society’ led him to establish the Thiagarajar Endowment, in 1944, the Thiagarajar Dharma Vanigam in 1948, the Thiagarajar College Endowment Trust in 1951, the Thiagarajar Charities in 1962, and also the Thiagarajar Educational Trust.

A milestone in technical education

Thiagarajar Polytechnic College established in Salem becomes the country’s best polytechnic college.

Triggering the Indian IT Revolution:

The Valliappa Software Tech Park (VSTP) was founded by Sona Group’s Chairman Shri C.Valliappa (now called Sona Towers, located on Millers Road in Bengaluru).
Texas Instruments, the 1st US Company to begin far-shoring in India, sets up operations at Sona Towers. Cisco, Oracle, Verifone and many more MNCs incubate at Sona Towers, attracted by its futuristic facilities.

1980s

1997

Our former Chairman Late Shri M.S Chockalingam founds the Sona College of Technology in Salem

A significant social leveller, it allows thousands of rural and small-town students to become competent manpower for the IT industry and the manufacturing sector. The college establishes itself as an R&D-focused premium institution and establishes R&D centres.

Advanced Research facilities and industry-connect

23 new advanced research centres inaugurated at Sona College of Technology by the late President of India Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam.
Sona Speed, one of Sona’s advanced R&D centres develops critical components for ISRO’s space missions. India’s GSLV MKII rocket veered into space with Sona Speed’s stepper motors.
Centre for Nano Materials / Macro Machining (Sona CNM/MM) provides anti-corrosion coating solutions for Titan Company Limited, Watch and Accessories Division, Hosur. Our pulse platting of nano-nickel composite coatings on brass cases is what helps Titan’s brass watch cases shine for a longer time on our wrists.
Sona School of Management evolves into a solution provider for corporates, MSMEs, Family Business Enterprises (FBEs) and Start-Ups.
Sona College of Technology becomes a consistent winner of the national-level Industry-Institution connect award of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Confederation of Indian Industry (AICTE-CII)

2009 - 2021

2019

Sona Star Technology Super Market founded to pool Sona Group’s technology, R&D and management expertise under one roof for all kinds of businesses to benefit from.

Sona College of Arts and Science established for providing new future options for the student community.

Taking a call on the COVID-19 pandemic

Sona Group’s Vice Chairman Thyagu Valliappa steered the establishment of Sona Medical College of Naturopathy and Yoga to take the health benefits of the indigenous medicinal system to the masses.

2021

WHAT WE DO

We provide business organisations with the latest technological services and managerial insights fostering transformational strategies, operational performance improvements, competitive advantage and value creation for their customers at the least cost.

Sona Star Innovation brings robust skills and forward-looking perspectives to solve customer challenges. We use proven knowledge to make recommendations and provide expert guidance to our customers.

Meet our CEO

Mr. Thyagu Valliappa

A fourth-generation educationalist, entrepreneur, innovator and process reengineering pro by passion, Mr Thyagu Valliappa is well-connected across industry and education. Having led many industry associations, and being the youngest in many of them like the BCIC, EFSI and others, he brings to the table a different perspective which is filled with dynamism, new thinking, and most importantly, futurism.

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Memorable moments with Tamilnadu Chief Minister:
Shri. Thyagu Valliappa, CEO, Sona Star and Vice Chairman Sona Group, Shri. C.Valliappa, Chairman, Sona Group and Shri. Chocko Valliappa, Vice Chairman Sona Group, Dr. V.Karthikeyan, Principal, Thyagarajar Polytechnic, Dr.S.R.R Senthil Kumar, Principal, Sona College of Technology and faculties with Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy on his visit to Sona Campus on March 12, 2018.

Another step towards excellence: At the launch of Sona - Axis Global Automation, Centre for Excellence. Shri. Thyagu Valliappa, CEO, Sona Star and Vice Chairman, Sona Group (2nd from left) and Shri. Chocko Valliappa, Vice Chairman, Sona Group 14th from right) with Chief Guest, Mr. Ajay Gurjar, Dy.C00 & Head (Business Operations), Yeskawa India Pvt.Ltd, Gurgaon l3rd from left) and Mr.Suresh A Shanmugam, Head Innovation & Future Technologies, BITS, Mahindra & Mahindra, Mumbai (5th from right).

A leaf from the entrepreneurship development diary: Sri. Thyagu Valliappa, cEo, Sona Star, Vice Chairman, Sona Group l2nd from left) with Mrs. Rohini Bhajibhakare, IAS, Salem Collector and Dr.V. Irai Anbu, IAS Principal Secretary/ Director, Entrepreneur Development Institute of India l3rd and 4th from left) at the meeting of the Institutional Entrepreneurship Develo pment Programme- Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute organized by Sona Entrepreneurship Development Cell. Dr. S.R.R Senthil Kumar, Principal, Sona College of Technology (Standingl, delivers address.

CONSULTING SOLUTIONS TO
VALUE PROPOSITION

SONA GROUP'S PIONEERING IT IMPERATIVE

OUR STORY

OUR HISTORY

1920s

1938