Rahul Bajaj

Rahul Bajaj
Rahul Bajaj
	Bajaj in 2014
Born	10 June 1938; Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died	12 February 2022 (aged 83); Pune, Maharashtra, India
Alma mater	St. Stephen's College, Delhi; (BA); Government Law College, Mumbai; (LLB); Harvard Business School; (MBA);
Occupation(s)	CEO emeritus, Bajaj Group
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Rupa Bajaj (m. 1961; died 2013)
Children	3; including Rajiv and Sanjiv
Parent	Kamalnayan Bajaj (father);
Relatives	Jamnalal Bajaj (grandfather); Tarang Jain ; (nephew);
Awards	Padma Bhushan (2001)

Rahul Bajaj (10 June 1938 – 12 February 2022) was an Indian billionaire businessman.^[1] He was the chairman emeritus of the Indian conglomerate Bajaj Group.^[2] He was awarded the third-highest civilian award in India, the Padma Bhushan, in 2001.^[3]

Early life[edit]

Bajaj was born on 10 June 1938, to Kamalnayan Bajaj and Savitri Bajaj.^[4] He was the grandson of Indian independence fighter, Jamnalal Bajaj, who was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi.^[5]^[6] Bajaj was an alumnus of Harvard Business School in the US, St. Stephen's College, Delhi, Government Law College, Mumbai and Cathedral and John Connon School.^[7]^[8]

Career[edit]

Bajaj took over the Bajaj Group in 1965.^[9] In a career spanning over five decades, he led the turnover of the group's flagship company, Bajaj Auto, from ₹7.5 crore to ₹12,000 crore, with the company's scooter Bajaj Chetak being the main growth driver.^[10]

Bajaj stepped down from his role in 2005 and his son Rajiv became the Group's managing director.^[11] Bajaj led the split of Bajaj Auto into three units in 2008: Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finserv and a holding company.^[12] He resigned as chairman and non-executive director of Bajaj Finserv to become chairman emeritus in March 2019.^[13] In April 2021, Bajaj stepped down as non-executive chairman of Bajaj Auto, ceding the position to his cousin, Niraj Bajaj, and remained with the company as chairman emeritus.^[2]

Bajaj was elected to the Rajya Sabha, India's Upper House of Parliament, filling the seat vacated by the death of Pramod Mahajan for the 2006–2010 period.^[14]

Bajaj was elected as the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) twice, in 1979–1980 and 1999–2000.^[15] For his outstanding work to the Indian industry, the then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, presented him with CII President's Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2017.^[16]

Some of the other positions that Bajaj held included chairman of Indian Airlines, chairman of the International Business Council at the World Economic Forum, chairman of the board at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, member of the International Advisory Council at the Brookings Institution, and a member of the South Asia advisory board at Harvard Business School.^[10]

Bajaj received the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour, in 2001.^[3]

On the Forbes, 2016 list of the world's billionaires, he was ranked No. 722, with a net worth of US$2.4 billion.^[2]

Personal life and death[edit]

His sons Rajiv Bajaj and Sanjiv Bajaj are involved in the management of his companies. His daughter Sunaina is married to Manish Kejriwal, the former head of Temasek India.^[17]^[18]

Bajaj died from pneumonia on 12 February 2022, at the age of 83. He was earlier admitted to the Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune, and was undergoing treatment at the hospital. He also had cancer and heart problems prior to his death.^[19]^[20]^[21]

References[edit]

^ "Who Is Rahul Bajaj". Business Standard. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Forbes profile: Rahul Bajaj". Forbes. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Rahul Bajaj conferred Padma Bhushan". The Hindu Business Line. 22 March 2001. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
^ Upadhye, Swati (2017). Rahul Bajaj: Great Personalities Of India. Diamond Pocket Books Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-81-288-2247-6.
^ "Rahul Bajaj Story - Chairman Of Bajaj Group". successstory.com. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
^ Taknet, D. K. (2016). The Marwari Heritage. IntegralDMS. p. 254. ISBN 978-1-942322-06-1. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
^ "Alumni Achievement Awards – Rahul Bajaj, MBA 1964". Harvard Business School. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
^ Khan, Iram (10 June 2018). "Birthday Special : The motivational businessman, Rahul Bajaj". News Track. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
^ Natay, Lola (24 March 2017). "Rahul Bajaj, Bajaj Group". Outlook India. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Bose, Mrityunjay (12 February 2022). "Former Bajaj Auto chairman Rahul Bajaj passes away at 83". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
^ Narasimhan, Laxman (1 September 2010). "Learning from emerging markets: An interview with Bajaj Auto's Rajiv Bajaj". McKinsey & Company. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
^ Master, Ammar; Staney, Nesil (26 May 2008). "Restructuring over, two Bajaj companies to be listed today". Livemint. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
^ PTI (13 March 2019). "Rahul Bajaj resigns as Bajaj Finserv Chairman". The Economic Times. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
^ "Rahul Bajaj elected to Rajya Sabha". The Times of India. PTI. 15 June 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
^ "CII Past Presidents". Retrieved 23 October 2020.
^ "Rahul Bajaj bagged CII President's Award for Lifetime Achievement". United News of India. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
^ Adhikari, Anand (26 March 2006). "Billion Dollar Dealer". Business Today. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
^ Subramanian, Shobhana (11 November 2008). "Lunch with BS: Manish Kejriwal". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
^ "Rahul Bajaj, former chairman of Bajaj Auto, passes away at 83". The Indian Express. 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
^ "Industrialist Rahul Bajaj, Former Chairman Of Bajaj Group, Dies At 83". NDTV. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
^ "Bajaj Group Chairman Emeritus Rahul Bajaj Passes Away At 83 After Prolonged Illness". ABP. 12 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.

External links[edit]

Media related to Rahul Bajaj at Wikimedia Commons

[1] "Who Is Rahul Bajaj". Business Standard. Retrieved 6 July 2020.

[Forbes_profile-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Forbes profile: Rahul Bajaj". Forbes. Retrieved 1 July 2021.

[:0-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Rahul Bajaj conferred Padma Bhushan". The Hindu Business Line. 22 March 2001. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2012.

[4] Upadhye, Swati (2017). Rahul Bajaj: Great Personalities Of India. Diamond Pocket Books Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-81-288-2247-6.

[5] "Rahul Bajaj Story - Chairman Of Bajaj Group". successstory.com. Retrieved 5 July 2018.

[MarwariHeritage-6] Taknet, D. K. (2016). The Marwari Heritage. IntegralDMS. p. 254. ISBN 978-1-942322-06-1. Retrieved 12 November 2019.

[7] "Alumni Achievement Awards – Rahul Bajaj, MBA 1964". Harvard Business School. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.

[8] Khan, Iram (10 June 2018). "Birthday Special : The motivational businessman, Rahul Bajaj". News Track. Retrieved 7 February 2021.

[9] Natay, Lola (24 March 2017). "Rahul Bajaj, Bajaj Group". Outlook India. Retrieved 6 July 2018.

[:1-10] Jump up to: ^a ^b Bose, Mrityunjay (12 February 2022). "Former Bajaj Auto chairman Rahul Bajaj passes away at 83". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 12 February 2022.

[11] Narasimhan, Laxman (1 September 2010). "Learning from emerging markets: An interview with Bajaj Auto's Rajiv Bajaj". McKinsey & Company. Retrieved 6 July 2018.

[12] Master, Ammar; Staney, Nesil (26 May 2008). "Restructuring over, two Bajaj companies to be listed today". Livemint. Retrieved 2 April 2020.

[13] PTI (13 March 2019). "Rahul Bajaj resigns as Bajaj Finserv Chairman". The Economic Times. Retrieved 7 February 2021.

[14] "Rahul Bajaj elected to Rajya Sabha". The Times of India. PTI. 15 June 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2022.

[15] "CII Past Presidents". Retrieved 23 October 2020.

[16] "Rahul Bajaj bagged CII President's Award for Lifetime Achievement". United News of India. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2020.

[17] Adhikari, Anand (26 March 2006). "Billion Dollar Dealer". Business Today. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2021.

[18] Subramanian, Shobhana (11 November 2008). "Lunch with BS: Manish Kejriwal". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2011.

[19] "Rahul Bajaj, former chairman of Bajaj Auto, passes away at 83". The Indian Express. 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.

[20] "Industrialist Rahul Bajaj, Former Chairman Of Bajaj Group, Dies At 83". NDTV. Retrieved 12 February 2022.

[21] "Bajaj Group Chairman Emeritus Rahul Bajaj Passes Away At 83 After Prolonged Illness". ABP. 12 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.

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v t e Padma Bhushan award recipients (2000–2009)
2000	V. K. Aatre Anil Agarwal Ram Narain Agarwal Sharan Rani Backliwal Swami Kalyandev Veerendra Heggade Pavaguda V. Indiresan Wahiduddin Khan B. B. Lal Raghunath Anant Mashelkar H. Y. Sharada Prasad Rajinikanth Begum Aizaz Rasul Radha Reddy Raja Reddy Pakkiriswamy Chandra Sekharan Karamshi Jethabhai Somaiya S. Srinivasan Ratan Tata Harbans Singh Wasir
2001	Dev Anand Viswanathan Anand Amitabh Bachchan Rahul Bajaj B. R. Barwale Balasaheb Bharde Boyi Bhimanna Swadesh Chatterjee B. R. Chopra Ashok Desai K. M. George Bhupen Hazarika Lalgudi Jayaraman Yamini Krishnamurthy Shiv K. Kumar Raghunath Mohapatra Arun Netravali Mohan Singh Oberoi Rajendra K. Pachauri Abdul Karim Parekh Amrita Patel Pran Aroon Purie B. V. Raju P. Bhanumathi Sundaram Ramakrishnan Chitranjan Singh Ranawat Palle Rama Rao Raj Reddy Uma Sharma L. Subramaniam Naresh Trehan
2002	Gary Ackerman H. P. S. Ahluwalia Prabha Atre Sushantha Kumar Bhattacharyya Chandu Borde Eugene Chelyshev Pravinchandra Varjivan Gandhi Shobha Gurtu Henning Holck-Larsen Zakir Hussain B. K. S. Iyengar F. C. Kohli V. C. Kulandaiswamy Gury Marchuk Jagat Singh Mehta Ismail Merchant Mario Miranda Frank Pallone Ramanujam Varatharaja Perumal Natesan Rangabashyam Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra Habib Tanvir K. K. Venugopal Nirmal Verma K. J. Yesudas
2003	Teejan Bai Ammannur Madhava Chakyar Prabhu Chawla Herbert Fischer Jamshyd Godrej Coluthur Gopalan K. Parasaran B. Rajam Iyer Shri Krishna Joshi Madurai Narayanan Krishnan Rajinder Kumar Ramesh Kumar Purshotam Lal Sitakant Mahapatra Bagicha Singh Minhas Subhash Mukhopadhyay P. S. Narayanaswamy Arcot Ramachandran Trichur V. Ramachandran Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti T. V. Sankaranarayanan Naseeruddin Shah T. V. R. Shenoy Jagjit Singh Ram Badan Singh Hari Shankar Singhania Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman Narayanan Srinivasan Padma Subrahmanyam Swapna Sundari O. V. Vijayan Herbert Alexandrovich Yefremov
2004	Thoppil Varghese Antony Soumitra Chatterjee Chandrashekhar Shankar Dharmadhikari Gulzar Sardara Singh Johl M. V. Kamath Komal Kothari Yoshirō Mori Gopi Chand Narang Govindarajan Padmanaban Poornima Arvind Pakvasa Vishnu Prabhakar N. Rajam C. H. Hanumantha Rao Thiruvengadam Lakshman Sankar T. N. Seshagopalan Bijoy Nandan Shahi Krishna Srinivas Alarmel Valli
2005	Sardar Anjum André Beteille Chandi Prasad Bhatt Tumkur Ramaiya Satishchandran Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri Yash Chopra Manna Dey Irfan Habib Yusuf Hamied Qurratulain Hyder Tarlochan Singh Kler Anil Kohli Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Mrinal Miri Hari Mohan Brijmohan Lall Munjal M. T. Vasudevan Nair Azim Premji Balraj Puri Syed Mir Qasim A. Ramachandran G. V. Iyer Ramakrishna V. S. Ramamurthy K. I. Varaprasad Reddy K. Srinath Reddy Girish Chandra Saxena Narasimaiah Seshagiri Mark Tully
2006	Jaiveer Agarwal P. S. Appu Shashi Bhushan Ganga Prasad Birla Grigory Bongard-Levin Lokesh Chandra Chiranjeevi Dinesh Nandini Dalmia Tarun Das Madhav Gadgil A. K. Hangal Devaki Jain Kamleshwar Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan Sabri Khan Ghulam Mustafa Khan Shanno Khurana Gunter Kruger P. Leela K. P. P. Nambiar Nandan Nilekani Sai Paranjpye Deepak Parekh M. V. Pylee Subramaniam Ramadorai N. S. Ramaswamy Pavani Parameswara Rao Ramakanta Rath V. Shanta Hira Lall Sibal Billy Arjan Singh Jasjit Singh Vijaypat Singhania K. G. Subramanyan K. K. Talwar Vijay Shankar Vyas Dušan Zbavitel
2007	Javed Akhtar Gabriel Chiramel Ela Gandhi Saroj Ghose V. Mohini Giri Somnath Hore Jamshed Jiji Irani Gurcharan Singh Kalkat N. Mahalingam Prithipal Singh Maini Tyeb Mehta Rajan and Sajan Mishra Rajan and Sajan Mishra Sunil Mittal Ramankutty Nair Gopaldas Neeraj Indra Nooyi Kavalam Narayana Panicker Bhikhu Parekh Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri V. S. Ramachandran Tapan Raychaudhuri S. H. Raza Jeffrey Sachs Chandra Prasad Saikia L. Z. Sailo Shiv Kumar Sarin Shriram Sharma Manju Sharma T. N. Srinivasan Osamu Suzuki K. T. Thomas
2008	Mian Bashir Ahmed Kaushik Basu Shayama Chona Jagjit Singh Chopra Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar Chandrashekhar Dasgupta Asis Datta Meghnad Desai Padma Desai Sukh Dev Nirmal Kumar Ganguly B. N. Goswamy Vasant Gowarikar Baba Kalyani K. V. Kamath Inderjit Kaur Barthakur Ravindra Kelekar Asad Ali Khan Dominique Lapierre D. R. Mehta Shiv Nadar Suresh Kumar Neotia T. K. Oommen K. Padmanabhaiah Vikram Pandit V. Ramachandran Sushil Kumar Saxena Amarnath Sehgal Jasdev Singh Shrilal Shukla P. Susheela S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan Yuli Vorontsov Sunita Williams Ji Xianlin
2009	Isher Judge Ahluwalia Inderjit Kaur Barthakur Shamshad Begum Abhinav Bindra Shanta Dhananjayan V. P. Dhananjayan Ramachandra Guha Shekhar Gupta Khalid Hameed Minoru Hara Jayakanthan Thomas Kailath Sarvagya Singh Katiyar G. Krishna R. C. Mehta A. Sreedhara Menon S. K. Misra A. M. Naik Satish Nambiar Kunwar Narayan Nagnath Naikwadi Kirit Parikh Sam Pitroda C. K. Prahalad Gurdip Singh Randhawa Brijendra Kumar Rao Bhakta B. Rath C. S. Seshadri V. Ganapati Sthapati Devendra Triguna Sarojini Varadappan
# Posthumous conferral 1954–1959 1960–1969 1970–1979 1980–1989 1990–1999 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–2029

Early life[edit]

Career[edit]

Personal life and death[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]