Natarajan Srinivasan doesn’t believe in firefighting. Yet, his leadership career spanning over three decades has been defined by just that. As managing director of Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company (then Cholamandalam DBS Finance), Srinivasan was instrumental in steering the shadow lender back from the brink in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis.
His call to exit the risky unsecured business, negotiate the withdrawal of joint venture partner DBS Bank, and execute a large-scale restructuring resulted in the dramatic turnaround of Chola Finance. A company once saddled with nearly Rs 4,000 crore in non-performing assets transformed into a financial powerhouse managing over Rs 1-lakh crore in assets — and, today, a crown jewel of the Murugappa Group.
The FE CFO Awards2025 jury had no hesitation in declaring Srinivasan to be one of the top financial minds in India’s corporate sector and selecting him for the Lifetime Achievement award.
Indeed, Srinivasan has been the Murugappa Group’s go-to person for complex restructurings, tough negotiations, and high-stakes legal battles. Whether it’s representing group firms in court or hammering out terms with global investors, Srinivasan’s deep financial insights have made him indispensable. The behind-the-scenes negotiations with Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo to increase its stake in Cholamandalam MS General Insurance from 26% to 40% is one such example.
His business acumen and grasp of legal and regulatory frameworks even caught the attention of the government. In 2018, amid one of India’s most high-profile financial collapses, Srinivasan was appointed an independent director in the newly reconstituted board of IL&FS — tasked with resolving its Rs 1-lakh-crore debt crisis under the leadership of Uday Kotak.
But it was the turnaround of CG Power and Industrial Solutions that truly tested Srinivasan’s resolve. He calls it the “most challenging and satisfying experience” of his career. When a Murugappa Group firm acquired the troubled CG Power under the insolvency resolution process in November 2020, the company was under investigation by multiple agencies and its financial records were being scrutinised by courts for falsification. “I didn’t even have a reliable balance sheet to understand the company’s net worth or negotiate terms with investors,” recalls Srinivasan, who was roped in as MD to turn around CG Power. He quickly assembled a team to reconstruct five years’ worth of financial statements covering over 180 accounts.
The team completed the task within a record 8–9 months, against their own deadline of one-year. When the Murugappa Group took over, CG Power’s market capitalisation was just Rs 5,000 crore. In less than three years, it crossed Rs 1-lakh crore while the company’s profit also crossed Rs 1,000 crore — a recovery credited as one of the fastest turnaround stories in modern corporate India.
“My blood pressure really shot up those days. Every day, I would write this line to myself — ‘Learn to manage stress without getting stressed’,” Srinivasan recalls of his early days at CG Power. “Now, no matter what the problem is, I don’t let it affect me. That’s the biggest lesson CG Power taught me.” It wasn’t just self-assurance that helped him cope.
Srinivasan is a “meticulous walker.” He never misses his hour-long morning walks, often accompanied by the soothing strains of Carnatic music by favourites like Maharajapuram Santhanam, devotional chants like the Narayaneeyam or Vishnu Sahasranamam by MS Subbulakshmi. He also hums along to the tunes of old Tamil melodies by TM Soundararajan.
A stickler for time management, Srinivasan begins his day at 3:45 am every day. While he works Monday through Saturday, he sets aside Sundays to quietly reflect and plan major strategies without interruption — reserving the afternoon for family outings to nearby temples or restaurants. “I used to play chess,” he says with a wry smile. “But now, there’s no one on the other side of the board. I’ve lost.” His two daughters are living in the US and Singapore.
For Srinivasan, work-life balance is more about the work than the balance. “If you set out to achieve big things, some amount of compromise in personal life may be required,” he says. Yet, he doesn’t see it as a sacrifice — he genuinely enjoys working, a value instilled by his father, who believed that “work is worship.”
When monotony occasionally creeps in — which, he insists, is rare — Srinivasan finds comfort in the quiet hills of Kodaikanal, revisiting classic Roger Federer matches, or simply unwinding with music at home. “That itself will take care of everything,” he says.
After a five-year stint in Mumbai to revive CG Power, Srinivasan is now moving to Hyderabad to steer Coromandel International as its Executive vice chairman. “I’ve been fortunate to hold an executive position at 67,” he says.
His retirement plans are no less ambitious — from mentoring startups aiming for IPOs to studying the Vedas and Upanishads, and supporting underprivileged priests with financial aid, Srinivasan has already chalked out a meaningful next chapter. But that’s still some distance away.