New Delhi: The former Chairman of the Emeritus of the industrial conglomerate Mahindra Group, Keshub Mahindra passed away at the age of 99 on Wednesday, as confirmed by Chairman of INSPACe Pawan K Goenka on Twitter. "The industrial world has lost one of the tallest personalities today. Shri Keshub Mahindra had no match; the nicest person I had the privilege of knowing. I always looked forward to mtgs with him and was inspired by how he connected business, economics and social matters. Om Shanti," Goenka tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.
He was 99 and breathed his last peacefully at his home. He is survived by nephew and industrialist Anand Mahindra and other relatives.A well-known philanthropist, Mahindra had served as the non-executive Chairman of the Union Carbide India Ltd. when the massive Bhopal gas leak had occurred in December 1984.
Ranked as the world's worst industrial disaster, Mahindra and others were later convicted by a court for two years jail term in 2010, and later enlarged on bail. Born on October 9, 1923 in Shimla, Mahindra pursued his higher education at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Subsequently, he joined the Mahindra & Mahindra Group in 1947 and rose up to become its Chairman in 1963. Over the years, the Mahindra Group became a leading conglomerate with interests comprising automobiles, starting with its popular Willys jeeps that ruled the roads once, engineering, farm equipment, education, aerospace, IT, housing, realty, finances, etc.
Keshub Mahindra worked on various high-level government committees and panels with various governments and was on the PM's Council on Trade and Industry from 2004-2010. He was decorated with several national and international honours, served with several industry organisations and associations like ASSOCHAM, and HUDCO, and was also on the boards of top companies like Tatas, SAIL, IFC, ICICI, HDFC, EFI, AIMA, Bombay Dyeing, Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, et al.
