AFP, published on Saturday, February 12, 2022 at 9:51 p.m.
Billionaire businessman Rahul Bajaj, who long ran the family conglomerate of the same name, a famous manufacturer of two-wheelers in India, died on Saturday at the age of 83, the group announced.
A member of the Indian elite – his grandfather was a close collaborator of Gandhi – he was particularly known for having contributed to the phenomenal success of the Bajaj Chetak scooter, produced by his Bajaj Auto group, in the 1970s and 80s.
This solid and affordable model, inspired by the famous Italian Vespa whose group had previously obtained the license for India, became very popular in the Indian middle class from its launch in 1972.
Given the framework of the economy at that time, production was limited to 6,000 units per year, and customers were able to stay up to 10 years on the waiting list.
After stepping down as head of the group in 2005, Rahul Bajaj was elected to the upper house of the Indian Parliament for the Congress party for one term.
Considered a relatively clean businessman, in a country where corruption is rampant, he was also renowned for his outspokenness.
In particular, he did not hesitate to castigate other business leaders for their lack of criticism of the Narendra Modi government’s policy from 2014, when the country’s growth rate was in free fall.
He will be cremated on Sunday in Pune (west), said the Bajaj group.
In a tweet, Mr Modi expressed his “sorrow” on Saturday, hailing Mr Bajaj’s “remarkable contributions to the world of commerce and industry”.
Other Indian industrialists have paid tribute to him, like Harsh Goenka, president of the RPG Group conglomerate, who evokes “a visionary” and a “outspoken” man respected for his “values.”
Born on June 10, 1938 in Calcutta (east), Rahul Bajaj, who had studied economics in New Delhi and law in Bombay, was a Harvard graduate. He had joined the family empire in 1965.
The conglomerate split in the 2000s following a family dispute.
Its flagship, Bajaj Auto, has climbed into the top 10 of two-wheeler manufacturers in the world and is the leading manufacturer of scooters, with a market share of 72%, according to Autocarpro.
