Keshub Mahindra, India's oldest billionaire, philanthropist, and head of India Inc passed away. He was 99. The chairman emeritus of Mahindra Group, who was born in Shimla on October 9, 1923, saw first hand how the Indian economy changed. Over the course of his nearly five-decade leadership of Mahindra & Mahindra, the business negotiated everything from the licence permit raj to liberalisation.
Under his stewardship, M&M transformed from its beginnings as a steel trading company to a utility vehicle and steel maker to further diversify into telecom, tractors and other businesses.
Keshub Mahindra was and will always remain a source of inspiration for me and the entire Mahindra Group,” said his nephew Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group. “He was a man of principles and led from the front to preserve the legacy of our founders which has ensured that the organisation has remained rooted in ethics, values and good corporate governance. Keshub Mahindra was known for his astute business acumen that helped in transforming Mahindra into a diversified federation of companies. His compassion and people-centric approach made him a global business icon, who was much loved and respected.”
As soon as Keshub Mahindra joined the company in 1947, he started to experience change. After the third founding partner, Ghulam Mohammed, left India to become Pakistan's first finance minister, the company's founders, JC and KC Mahindra, were forced to rename what had originally been known as Mahindra and Mohammed into Mahindra & Mahindra. Sixteen years later, when Keshub Mahindra took over as the chairman of the company in 1963, M&M changed course again - first to forge its steel alliance with Ugine Kuhlmann and then to get into tractors in partnership with International Harvester.