Indian auto industry pioneer Keshab Mahindra dies at 99
- New Delhi: Keshab Mahindra, a pioneer of Indian auto industry and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd chairman emeritus, died on Wednesday morning in Mumbai.
- Mahindra, 99, breathed his last on Wednesday morning at home, the company confirmed.
- "He was a man of principles and led from the front to preserve the legacy of our founders which has ensured that the organization has remained rooted in ethics, values and good corporate governance," Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra said.
- Keshab had led the Mahindra Group for 48 years as chairman and expanded it from being an automobile manufacturer to other business segments like IT, real estate, financial Serivices and hospitality. He played key roles in forging business alliances with global majors such as the Willys Corporation, Mitsubishi, International Harvester, United Technologies, British Telecom and many others.
- Born on October 9, 1923, in Shimla, Keshab was a graduate from Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, USA, and joined M&M in 1947 and became the chairman in 1963.
- In 2012, Keshab Mahindra, who remained as one of the directors on Mahindra & Mahindra's board for 64 years group's overseeing the metamorphosis from a steel trading company to a $15.4 billion diversified group, handed over the baton to his nephew and the then vice-chairman and managing director Anand Mahindra.
- He had also served on a large number of Boards and councils in both private and public domain. He was the founder chairman of HUD- CO, and also served on many corporate boards, including SAIL, Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels, IFC, ICICI and HDFC.
- Besides, Keshab also held the position of president of Employers' Federation of India and the Bom- bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry