RIP Keshub Mahindra: A visionary who built M&M group from scratch

The year India achieved freedom and Mahatma Gandhi was still around, the young Keshub joined his father J.C. Mahindra’s company, where he eventually became the chairman in 1963 and passed on the baton to Anand in 2012

In the death of Keshub Mahindra, 99, Indian business world has lost someone who towers over all, and across generations. Reclusive and ever-gracious Keshub Mahindra could not complete a hugely deserved century. His death should be mourned across the Redcliff border.

Amongst the tallest industrialists post-independence, Mahindra belongs to the rare pioneering league of JRD Tata and GD Birla. Born in 1923, Mahindra, like Tata and Birla, was known for his philanthropic activities.

The great man came in for some torrid time because of the catastrophic Bhopal gas leak case as he was the non-executive chairman of Union Carbide India (UCIL) when the tragedy struck. When many were pointing a finger at Mahindra, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, who considers Mahindra as his mentor, wondered “how can the non-executive chairman be responsible for a flaw in the plant’s design? I agree this is a terrifying tragedy but we can't get emotional about it. For every rail accident, the Railway minister is not charged.”

Mahindra earned global plaudits for his suave leadership qualities when he was the chairman of the whopping $19 billion Mumbai-listed conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra, which is presently headed by his nephew Anand Mahindra, whose father Harish was Keshub’s brother.

The year India achieved freedom, the young Keshub joined his father J.C. Mahindra’s company, where he eventually became the chairman in 1963 and passed on the baton to Anand in 2012.

During his illustrious career, Mahindra transformed the company from an assembler of Willys jeeps in India to a diversified conglomerate. Today, even though the flagship Mahindra and Mahindra is best known for its tractors and SUVs, it has been making it big in sectors like software services, hospitality and real estate.

In 2004, Anand Mahindra told this writer, “I discuss various issues related to our group with my uncle, who gives me mature and pragmatic advices, whatever the issue. His presence gives me strength and confidence.”

The young boy came a long time since getting a taste if industry when his family company was known as Mahindra and Mohammad (M&M). That was in the mid-1940s when the country’s political situation was fluid. While Congress leaders were expecting independence from the British soon, the Muslim League was almost certain that their dream of a separate homeland was nearer to getting accomplished.

It was during those heady days that Mahindra and Mohammed was floated as a steel trading company by J. C. Mahindra and his brother K.C. Mahindra along with Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) alumni Ghulam Mohammed. Incidentally, while the brothers were from Ludhiana, their partner was from Lahore. They had such big dreams that Muhammad, a qualified Chartered Accountant, came on board while quitting a job in Indian Railway. This career change was not a small decision as in those days (perhaps to a reduced extent even now) people did not quit government jobs so easily.

Even as Mahindra & Mohamed was making its presence felt, Pakistan become a reality. Call it providence or whatever, Mohammad Ali Jinnah asked Ghulam Mohammad to shift base to the newly founded country. In fact, Jinnah urged several Muslim industrialists to shift to Pakistan. Although, Jinnah was quite close to Seth Ram Krishna Dalmia, he was not offered any position in Pakistan. Jinnah even visited Dalmia Nagar in Bihar at the invitation of his friend. Dalmia had purchased his Delhi’s 10 APJ Kalam Road mansion too. Dalmia’s wife and noted Hindi author, Dinesh Nandni Dalmia, used to narrate her husband’s close friendship with Jinnah to this writer at her Sikandra Road’s mansion. Jinnah offered a hugely tempting position to Azeem Premji’s father, who straightaway rejected the offer.

Meanwhile, Jinnah made Ghulam Mohammad the country’s Finance Minister. After he shifted to Karachi, the then capital of Pakistan, the eventful journey of Mahindra & Mohammad ended abruptly. The company was gradually rechristened as Mahindra and Mahindra.

Young Keshub was a witness to the company’s makeover. Following the assassination of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951, he was invited to be the Governor-General by Khawaja Nazimuddin, who took over as the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, from a steel trading enterprise, Mahindra & Mahindra has emerged as a respected corporate house that has a work-force of 2.50 lakh employees based in over 100 countries.

The undisputed global leader in the manufacture of tractors has a formidable presence in aerospace, aftermarket, agribusiness, automotive, components, construction equipment, consulting services, defence, energy, farm equipment, finance, insurance, industrial equipment, information technology, leisure and hospitality, logistics, real estate, retail and the two-wheeler segments. Besides this, Mahindra Finance is India’s largest rural non-banking financial company (NBFC).

Keshub Mahindra was the founder-chairman of HUDCO and served many corporate boards, including SAIL, Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels, IFC, ICICI and HDFC.

The genial trailblazer be missed by his friends, associates, admirers and the Indian corporate world as a whole.

(The author is Delhi-based senior journalist and writer. He is author of Gandhi's Delhi which has brought to the forth many hidden facts about Mahatma Gandhi)