Maruti’s former chairman V Krishnamurthy passes away at 97

Dr Venkataraman Krishnamurthy, former chairman and managing director of Maruti Udyog Limited (now Maruti Suzuki), passed away at the age of 97 on Sunday. He has two sons, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Born in Tamil Nadu, Krishnamurthy was known as the ‘Father of public sector undertakings in India’. Throughout his career, Dr V Krishnamurthy held important positions at BHEL, Maruti Udyog Limited, SAIL and GAIL.

Dr V Krishnamurthy was the Chairman and CEO of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Maruti Udyog Limited, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and GAIL (India) Limited. He was conferred with India’s fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri in 1973 for the civil services category.

Sajjan Jindal, chairman & managing director, JSW Steel:

He was one of the best leaders in Indian industry. As a leader of Indian industry, specially public sector, he provided clear vision and led Maruti, SAIL, and BHEL, besides other companies. He changed the way public sector industries were looked at. May his soul rest in peace.

T V Narendran, MD & CEO, Tata Steel:

An iconic leader in the steel industry who was an inspiration for many youngsters who joined the industry in the eighties . His tenure in BHEL and Sail was trail blazing and he also was an inspiration for the quality movement in india

S K Roongta, former SAIL chairman, currently non-executive chairman, BALCO:

Dr. Krishnamurthy was a great manager. I learnt a lot from him when he was SAIL chairman. As a middle manager then I had the opportunity of direct interaction with him when he was chairman. He had a mesmerizing impact on his listeners. It is a great loss for me personally.

SAIL family deeply mourns the sad demise of Padma Vibhushan Dr. Venkataraman Krishnamurthy, ex-Chairman, @SAILsteel on 26th June, 2022. pic.twitter.com/q7Fa5zyhmM

— SAIL #SAILSwarnaJayanti #SSJ #AmritMahotsav (@SAILsteel) June 26, 2022

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor