Hamara Bajaj, a business icon who always spoke his mind, died at 83
Rahul Bajaj, the 83-year-old chairman emeritus of Bajaj Auto, died on Saturday in Pune of cardiac and respiratory ailments. However, he was not one to mince words or give up without a fight.
In 1970-71, when the government tightly controlled licenses and production capacitiese. He vehemently argued his company’s case for producing more scooters. After the 1991 reforms, he became one of the most vocal members of the ‘Bombay Club,’ seeking a “level playing field” for Indian businesses. Also more recently, in 2019, in the presence of Union ministers, at the ET Awards. He spoke about the need to create an environment in which business people could openly criticize.
After graduating from Harvard Business School with an MBA in the 1960s, he built Bajaj Auto into the nation’s preeminent two-wheeler firm. With families willing to wait a decade to own a Bajaj Chetak or Bajaj Tremendous scooter. Its iconic ‘Hamara Bajaj’ marketing campaign became synonymous with the aspirations of the middle class.
He was widely regarded as India Inc.’s fearless spokesman. Bajaj would ‘open the innings’ at the post-Funds meeting of business associations with government representatives. Making sharp feedback, usually to the chagrin or discomfort of mantras and babus. But, on the other hand, he was open and honest with almost everyone and everything, including his son Rajiv’s decision to stop manufacturing scooters.
Rahul Bajaj was one of a kind.
He had a persona to match his towering stature. Rahul Bajaj, the grandson of a freedom fighter also born into a family that believed it had a responsibility to society, believed in the concept of India.
His scooters became a symbol of a young nation on the move. He was among the first to become a world-beater in his field also take an Indian model internationally. However, he was more than a business titan he was a man of strong beliefs who did not shy go from speaking his mind.
Bajaj had a strong social conscience and believed that businesses were meant to serve individuals and communities in keeping with the family tradition. Therefore, in addition to making significant monetary contributions to health, education, and livelihoods. Bajaj took a personal interest in the group’s philanthropic activities.
