President Ram Nath Kovind and prime minister Narendra Modi led the tributes as corporates and political leaders expressed their grief over the death of Rahul Bajaj, the former chairman of Bajaj Group, who died on Saturday afternoon in Pune, aged 83 years.
"Saddened to learn of Shri Rahul Bajaj's demise. A doyen of Indian industry, he was passionate about its priorities," read a tweet from the president's official Twitter handle.
Mr Bajaj was not keeping well for quite some time and passed away at around 1430 hrs on Saturday, a company official was quoted as saying by PTI. His last rites will be held on Sunday, February 13.
He is survived by two sons, Rajiv Bajaj and Sanjiv Bajaj, and a daughter Sunaina Kejriwal.
Mr Rahul Bajaj resigned from his position of non-executive director and chairman at Bajaj Auto on April 30 last year.
Read Mr Kovind's tweet here.
Prime minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet that "Shri Rahul Bajaj Ji will be remembered for his noteworthy contributions to the world of commerce and industry. Beyond business, he was passionate about community service and was a great conversationalist. Pained by his demise. Condolences to his family and friends. Om Shanti".
Mr Bajaj had pneumonia and also a heart problem. He was admitted to hospital for the last one month, said Dr Purvez Grant, the managing trustee at Ruby Hall Clinic.
Born on June 10, 1938, Rahul Bajaj was the chairman of Bajaj Group for over 40 years. He resigned from the post in April last year and was currently the Chairman Emeritus of the conglomerate.
He was awarded with the third-highest civilian award Padma Bhushan in 2001. Mr Bajaj also served as a Rajya Sabha MP from 2006 to 2010.
"It is with deep sorrow that I inform you about the passing away of Shri Rahul Bajaj, husband of the late Rupa Bajaj and father of Rajiv/Deepa, Sanjiv/Shefali and Sunaina/Manish. He passed away on the afternoon of 12th February, 2022 in the presence of his closest family members," a statement from Bajaj Group read.
Executive chairperson of Biocon Limited, Kiran Majumdar Shaw, a close friend of the late industrialist, said in a tweet that she was "devastated" at Mr Bajaj's death and that the nation had lost a "great son" and a "nation builder".
Managing director and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Uday Kotak described Mr Bajaj as "bold and fearless" who "spoke truth to power". Mr Bajaj will be missed, he tweeted.
Chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra thanked the departed industrialist for advising him and cheering him on to be bold.
Read what Mr Mahindra had to say on Mr Bajaj's death.
Chairman of RPG Group, Harsh Goenka described Mr Bajaj's demise as "cracking" of Indian business' "spine", while calling him a "visionary", whose death marks the end of an era.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman also condoled the veteran business leader's death. This is what she tweeted.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari and several leaders cutting across party lines took to social media to express their shock and grief on the death of the veteran business leader.
Mr Gadkari tweeted his heartfelt tributes to Mr Bajaj, adding that he had known the former Bajaj Group chairman for many years.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi described Mr Bajaj's death as a "big loss". Read his tweet here.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar tweeted that he was "deeply shocked to learn about the sad demise of Padma Bhushan Shri Rahul Bajaj! The grandson of eminent freedom fighter Jamnalal Bajaj brought transformation in society especially in poor and middle-class people with his two-wheel technology - a Bajaj Bike!"
Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram while tweeting his condolences on Mr Bajaj's death, described him as a "far sighted" and "outspoken business leader" who "put average Indians on two motorised wheels".
This is what he tweeted.
Chief minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot, Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin and Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai also condoled the industrialist's death.
Fearless Industrialist
After taking charge of the Bajaj group business in 1965, Rahul Bajaj led it to the growth path. He steered the diversified entity during India's transition from a closed economy to a liberalised one and drove the company to expand its product portfolio with the Bajaj brand finding foothold in global markets while warding off emerging competition from Japanese motorcycle makers that challenged the Bajaj Auto's scooters.
Under his stewardship, flagship firm Bajaj Auto saw its turnover growing to Rs 12,000 crore from just Rs 7.2 crore with the firm's scooters becoming the mainstay.
The company's Bajaj Chetak scooter became an aspirational symbol for the middle class Indian families then, with the 'Hamara Bajaj' tune becoming synonymous with their hopes of a better future.
In 2005, he had started passing the baton of the company to son Rajiv Bajaj, who became the managing director of Bajaj Auto and led the company to become a truly global automobile player.
Known for his outspokenness, in November 2019, at an event organised by a business daily in Mumbai where home minister Amit Shah, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and commerce minister Piyush Goyal were present, the veteran industrialist spoke about the government's 'stifling of criticism', among other things.
"This environment of fear, it's definitely on our minds. You (the government) are doing good work; and despite that, we don't have the confidence that you'll appreciate criticism," he had said.
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