Industrialist and former Bajaj Auto chairman of Rahul Bajaj passed away on Saturday, February 12, at the age of 83 years.
“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 said.
Rahul Bajaj was the chairman emeritus of the Bajaj group and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2001 by the govt of India.
Born in 1938 in, Rahul Bajaj was the grandson of Indian independence fighter, Jamnalal Bajaj. He had studied at Harvard Business School in the US after graduating from St. Stephen’s College in Delhi.
He had taken over the Bajaj group in 1965, and the business of the group spread over various sectors had flourished under his leadership in the following decades. Close to the Congress party and the Gandhi family, the Bajaj Group had benefited from the protectionist policies of the Indian govt at that time.
In 2005, he had stepped down and his son Rajiv Bajaj became the managing director of Bajaj Group. Last year, he had stepped from the post of non-executive chairman of Bajaj Auto, and the post was occupied by his cousin Niraj Bajaj. However, he remained the chairman emeritus of the conglomerate, which includes Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Finserv.