JOIN USBeyond Reliance, India Inc witnesses widespread generational shift
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd announced on Tuesday the appointment of Akash Ambani as the new chairman, who will replace his father, Mukesh Ambani. However, this change of guard to the next generation is not limited to Reliance, as several other groups, including Godrej, Emami, and TVS, have taken a similar approach recently.
According to a report by the Business Standard, experts believe that clear succession planning is vital for corporate governance and an organisation’s future. “Family-owned businesses in India have come a long way as far as succession planning is concerned,” Harish H V, managing partner at ECube Investment Advisors, told the publication.
Harish said that even if earlier the process was not clearly defined and codified, a number of family-owned businesses now have a family council, “where issues regarding succession planning, roles that family members will perform in the business, and the duration of the role are discussed at length,” he said.
Let us take a brief look at the list of companies that witnessed a generational leadership change recently.
Godrej
Jamshyd Godrej, the chairman of Godrej and Boyce Mfg Co, appointed his niece, Nyrika Holkar, as his successor earlier this month. Holkar had been so far managing strategy, mergers and acquisitions, brand, and legal affairs at the firm.
Earlier in 2017, Jamshyd’s cousin Adi Godrej’s group also announced a succession plan by appointing his children Pirojsha and Nisaba as chairpersons of Godrej Properties and Godrej Consumer Products, respectively.
Emami
The board of the Emami Group, in February, appointed Mohan Goenka(first name??) as vice chairman-cum-whole-time director and Harsha V Agarwal as vice chairman-cum-managing director. The move camed after the founders R S Agarwal and R S Goenka, who set up the business in 1974, stepped down from their positions. While R S Agarwal took on the role of chairman emeritus, R S Goenka was appointed non-executive chairman.
HCL
Roshni Nadar-Malhotra, the only woman chairperson heading an IT services company, took over the control of HCL Technologies from her father Shiv Nadar 2020 who was earlier the vice-chairperson of the company. Shiv Nadar is now chairman emeritus of the company.
Wipro
Wipro announced in 2019 the succession of the company from Azim Premji to his son Rishad, who was chief strategy officer and was instrumental in the company’s M&A strategy. While Azim Premji continues to be on the board as founder chairman, he acts as a non-executive and non-independent director.
TVS
The change of hands was witnessed in the south as well, after Venu Srinivasan passed on the baton of group companies like TVS Motor Company and Sundaram-Clayton and allowed his son and daughter to run the show.
He became the chairman emeritus of the group. Ralf Dieter Speth, the former CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, took charge of TVS Motor as the chairman, and Srinivasan’s son Sudarshan Venu was appointed as the MD of the company in May 2022.