Born in Bombay on March 5, 1906, Sumant Moolgaokar took his B.Sc. (Hons.), Degree in Engineering from the City & Guilds (Imperial College), London, in 1929. He began his career in the cement industry. His career started as an engineer in the C.P. Cement Works in 1930, and after a total of seven years operating experience in three cement plants he joined the Associated Cement Companies Limited (A.C.C.), on its formation in 1938. In 1944, he was in sole charge of the production and expansion activities of the group of eleven companies belonging to A.C.C.

During the Second World War, when the country was cut off from the imports of all heavy equipment, he undertook the production of heavy cement machinery in a factory set up for the purpose at Shahabad in Hyderabad State. The first heavy items of cement machinery such as the kiln, grinding mills, crushers and ancillary equipment were manufactured entirely in India, and commissioned at Chaibasa in Bihar in 1946.  This plant is still in commission.  This was the beginning of the production of heavy engineering equipment in India.

In 1949, he was appointed a Director of Tata Industries, A.C.C., the Cement Agencies Limited, and the Director-in-Charge of Tata Locomotive and Engineering Co. Ltd.  He had been actively associated with the growth and development of the heavy engineering industry in India. 

In 1966, he was placed in charge of the Tata Iron and Steel Co. Ltd., (Tata Steel), as its Vice-Chairman.  In the same year, he was appointed the Chairman of Tata Exports Ltd., a Company which was formed by Tatas to promote exports of non-traditional items of Indian manufacture. He was the Chairman of Tata Consulting Engineers, another Company started by Tatas to offer specialised consultancy services for projects in the specialised engineering fields.

The Government of India and other public bodies have drawn heavily on his rich and varied experience both as an engineer and as an administrator, and he has at all times unreservedly placed his services at Government's disposal, whenever called upon to do so.  He was a Director of the Heavy Engineering Corporation, Ranchi.  He was a member of the National Planning Council of the Planning Commission, Chairman of the Engineering Capacity and Survey Committee, Government Housing Factory and Machine Tools Development Committee.  After the Chinese aggression in 1962, he agreed to serve as the Honorary Adviser to the Ministry of Economic and Defence Co-ordination and was included as a Member of the Indian Defence Delegation that went to Washington in 1963.

In recognition of his valuable contribution to production engineering in India, the Institute of Production Engineers awarded him the Sir Walter Puckey Prize in 1967. In February 1970, he was made an Honorary Life Member of the Indian Institute of Engineers.  In December 1983, he was conferred Honorary Fellowship of Imperial College of Science & Technology, London.  In December 1984, he was elected a Fellow of the City and Guilds of London Institute.

Moolgaokar was a fervent crusader for research, product development, quality control and technical and managerial industrial growth of our country.

Sumant Moolgaokar is often referred to as the architect of TELCO. Leading the Company for nearly four decades, he was responsible for building the company into an organisation capable of competing with the world’s best – in terms of people, processes and technology.

A man with a vision, he had the ability to see what TELCO would be. He believed that in order to build an industry, you not only had to build a factory, but also the men and the technology. His vision was not limited to the Company but encompassed even the nation and he was often seen as not just building a factory, but building a nation.

His long-term strategies were always in tune with the needs of the country. He was able to foresee that for India to become an industrial nation, it would need specially trained minds, while also being in a position to independently make its own machinery, tools and equipment. With this mind, from the very beginning TELCO trained its employees in the required skills and technologies. Sumant Moolgaokar was also instrumental in setting up the Engineering Research Centre, the Machine Tool and the Press Tool Division.

Building people excited Moolgaokar’s imagination and involvement as much as the development of plant or technology. He gave challenging assignments to young people and derived satisfaction from watching them grow beyond anybody’s expectations including their own.

He was simultaneously an ardent lover of nature and laid great stress on the planting of trees in the planning of both factory sites and townships. The hundreds of thousands of trees which embellish the Telco Works at Jamshedpur and Pune bear witness to his innate devotion to the natural beauty of the environment.

In his younger days, Moolgaokar was an earnest shikari who then became a keen photographer. With his passion for photography he travelled extensively and produced some stunning photographs. He also enjoyed fishing. Moolgaokar read books, happily worked in his personal workshop till his health allowed him to do so and he listened to music in order to relax. He would read all technical books and books on nature and wildlife like those by Jim Corbett. He was fond of western classical music and loved the sound of a symphony orchestra.