Mr Bajaj told The Financial Express: "They (the Firodias) should have taken this opportunity. They felt that the buyback share price offered was not enough. However, some of their group people have individually accepted the offer."

Riding high after the successful buyback, which has raised the promoters' holding to 53.36 per cent from 48 per cent, Mr Bajaj stated, "We have no plans of another buyback offer anytime in the near future. So if the Firodias have to sell, they have to go the market. They are, however, losing 12 per cent of the money they would have got in the process."

Mr Bajaj, however, stated that he did have talks with Kinetic Engineering chairman Abhay Firodia to swap Bajaj's minority holdings in Bajaj Tempo with Firodia's in Bajaj Auto.

The Bajaj group has a 23 per cent stake in Bajaj Tempo as opposed to the Firodia group's share of around 40 per cent. The Bajaj group's stake in Bajaj Auto has gone up to a staggering 53.36 per cent, post-buyback, considering that the 5.36 per cent GDR votes are also with the promoters.

On whether the buyback was a conscious decision to increase the promoters' stake, Mr Bajaj said, "It is incidental, but was certainly not the objective. Otherwise, we could have taken recourse to this even five years ago."

"The buyback will help in the deployment of the surplus funds which stands at around Rs 2,500 crore," Mr Bajaj said, adding that another concern was that of shareholders' return. "Our shareholders who have been with us since the 60s and the 70s have benefited tremendously. But those who bought our stocks in the mid-90s at around Rs 600 have been big losers. We wanted to give them a chance to exit, if they so desired," he said.

Mr Bajaj added, "There was some suggestion to peg the buyback price at Rs 600 per share, but it was highly unreasonable. The final price of Rs 400 per share will be beneficial both to the 15 per cent who are exiting and the remaining 85 per cent. After the buyback, the post-buyback earnings per share (EPS) will be slightly better."

Bajaj Auto received a total of 18,132 valid applications for over 2.8 crore equity shares in response to the buyback offer of 1.8 crore shares. The company, however, bought back 2,07,304 more shares over and above the target quantity. The acceptance level is of 64.15 per cent against each application on a proportionate basis.

Speaking on the modalities of the buyout, Mr Bajaj said, "Since buyback was allowed a year ago, Bajaj Auto is the first large company to go in for the tender route. Trends and procedures with Sebi have been laid out. Ashok Leyland may also follow this route." Commenting on the market demand, Mr Bajaj said, "Motorcycle sales are up, but scooter market is down. This gets reflected on the prices."