End of an era: Rahul Bajaj, chairman emeritus of Bajaj Auto, passes away at 83

Rahul Bajaj, 83, chairman emeritus of Bajaj Auto, passed away on Saturday afternoon in Pune. He is survived by his sons Rajiv and Sanjiv and daughter Sunaina. The courageous and outspoken industrialist had been suffering from cardiac and lung ailments.

Bajaj had been at the helm of Bajaj Auto for 50 years as whole-time director and 35 years as managing director before stepping down in March 2020 and moving to a non-executive role.

The industry veteran spoke truth to power as few others did and was one of the proponents of the so-called “Bombay Club”, which was against the opening up of the economy to foreign competition in 1991.

An extremely successful businessman, Bajaj built Bajaj Auto into a strong company always following high standards of corporate governance. Customers had to wait as long as a year, sometimes, to be able to buy the very popular ‘Chetak’ scooter.

A believer in Gandhian philosophy, he would constantly remind shareholders that he did not take too much money from them and that they made good returns on their investments. Shareholders loved to listen to his candid views on governments, leaders and the politics of the day at the company’s AGMs. Bajaj was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 2006 to 2010 and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2001.

Tributes poured in with industry leaders acknowledging both Bajaj’s achievements and his ethics. Venu Srinivasan, chairman, TVS Motor Company, applauded Bajaj saying he was among the few stars who had built the automotive industry and a pioneer, who established a culture of quality and technology. “He stood for high integrity in business and stuck to his principles,” Srinivasan said.

T V Narendran, President, CII, said India had lost one of its tallest leaders in industry. “His ideas and philosophies shaped the contours of Indian businesses especially for the past four decades. Under his stewardship, the first codification of corporate governance norms in the country happened way back in 1998, well before any regulation or law came into being in this important space,” Narendran said.