the first indigenous shipping company was founded by

The first indigenous shipping company was founded by V. O. Chidambaram Pillai. He started the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company in 1906 to compete against the monopoly of the British India Steam Navigation Company. The company operated ships between Tuticorin, India, and Colombo, Sri Lanka, as part of the Indian independence movement and the Swadeshi movement promoting self- reliance and indigenous enterprise.