Manjushree Khaitan, the chairperson of BK Birla group flagship Kesoram Industries, passed away on Thursday at Birla Park in Kolkata after a prolonged illness. She was 69.
Khaitan joined the Kesoram board in October 1998. But Basant Kumar’s succession plan for Kesoram became apparent in 2013 when Khaitan was appointed executive vice-chairman. In July 2019, she took on the role of non-executive chairperson after her father’s death.
The last rites of Khaitan took place later in the evening in the presence of Birla family members, including nephew Kumar Mangalam Birla, and well wishers.
For the past one year or so, she ran the affairs of the company from the Gurusaday Dutta Road bungalow with the help of senior executives.
Those who worked closely recalled the steely resolve Khaitan demonstrated to turn around Kesoram from a debt trap while battling falling health induced by chronic illness. Despite setbacks, Khaitan never gave up on her effort to turn around and carried out a series of restructuring measures and infused cash into the company.
However, the board of Kesoram, which has two cement plants in South India, decided to approach Kumar Mangalam-run UltraTech Cements last year to take over the cement business in an all stock deal. The regulatory clearance for the transaction is awaited. If the demerger and transfer of the cement business still goes on according to plan, Kesoram would become only a pale shadow of the past, having left with no significant business.
While her commitment to Kesoram was well-known, she was equally passionate about education, and in the Ashok Hall group of schools in particular. Khaitan was also a patron of art and culture and supported a large number of artists through the Birla Academy of Fine Arts.
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