Veteran industrialist and head of the Bajaj group, Rahul Bajaj, passed away on Saturday.
Bajaj, 83, who had pneumonia and also a heart problem, was admitted to the Ruby Hall Clinic a month ago and breathed his last at 2.30 pm on Saturday.
“It is with deep sorrow that I inform you about the passing away of Rahul Bajaj, husband of the late Rupa Bajaj and father of Rajiv and Deepa, Sanjiv and Shefali and Sunaina and Manish. He passed away on the afternoon of February 12, 2022 in the presence of his closest family members,” said a statement from Bajaj group.
In April 2021, Bajaj stepped down as non-executive chairman of Bajaj Auto. One of the oldest business groups in India, the group has 25 companies—including Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Electricals, Mukand and Bajaj Allianz—with around 36,000 employees.
He was the Chairman of the industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for two terms—1979-80 and 1999-2000.
Born on June 10, 1938, Bajaj graduated from St Stephen’s College in Delhi University with an Honours Degree in Economics in 1958. Apart from this, Bajaj also has a degree in Law from Bombay University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
As head of the Bajaj group of companies, he oversaw group activities, including manufacture and sale of motorised two, three, and four-wheeled vehicles, general and life insurance, investment and consumer finance, home appliances, electric lamps, wind energy, special alloy and stainless steel, material handling equipment and travel.
Bajaj is the recipient of many awards, including the Padma Bhushan from the government of India and honorary doctorates from many universities. Bajaj was a member of the Rajya Sabha for the 2006-2010 period.
He was also the former chairman of Indian Airlines and of the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.