The M. K. Sanghi Group had an extremely humble beginning. In the early 1920’s, a young gentleman, Motilal Sanghi from Jodhpur, a small town in India, decided to start a general merchandise shop after taking a loan of five thousand rupees. Driven by enthusiasm and a burning desire to be successful, he soon became the largest retailer in the state of Jodhpur and figured that if he could sell food and garments, he could also sell cars. During the British days in India, the only buyers of cars were the Maharajas and the Princes of the Royal States. Motilal not only established strong personal relations with these potential buyers but also obtained dealerships from General Motors, USA and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, England. He also began to sell a new car produced by Sir Herbert Austin in England called the Austin Seven. By the 1940’s, Seth Motilal Sanghi, as he had come to be known by then, had established a vast network for the sales, service and spare parts of cars.  His network was spread over Jodhpur, Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota, Ajmer, Bikaner, Mt. Abu, Indore and Delhi.

Seth Motilal Sanghi had also diversified into the nascent cinema business and was profitably operating over ten movie theatres in North India. The aim was to use the cinema business as the bedrock for profitable real estate investments. During his lifetime, Motilal Sanghi also ventured into manufacturing industrial gases by setting up one of the first plants in Jaipur.

The legacy of Seth Motilal Sanghi was nurtured by his eldest son, Narendra Sanghi, who remained an active member of the Indian Parliament for over sixteen years. The business was further expanded and strengthened by Mahendra Sanghi, Seth Motilal Sanghi's youngest son.

In 1952, the Government of India asked all car manufacturers who did not have plans to manufacture cars in India to shut their operations. This resulted in the exit of auto manufacturers such as General Motors from India. The M. K. Sanghi Group became the distributor of the largest Indian car manufacturer.

In 1962, the group shifted its headquarters to the commercial capital of India, Mumbai.  It also expanded into Manufacturing and Engineering of Industrial Gas Plants. 

The M. K. Sanghi Group later diversified its business interests further by setting up Sanghi Hospitality to carry out Real Estate Development.

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