Rahul Bajaj

Born: 10 June 1938, Calcutta
Died: 12 February 2022, Pune
Known for: Chairman of the Bajaj Group for nearly five decades

Early life

Rahul Bajaj was the grandson of Jamnalal Bajaj, the founder of the Bajaj Group and a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. He studied at Cathedral School in Bombay and St. Stephen's College in Delhi, took a law degree in Bombay and then an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Bajaj Auto

He took charge of the Bajaj Group in 1965. In the years of the licence-permit raj he built Bajaj Auto into one of the best known companies in India, with factories at Akurdi and Waluj. In the 1980s Bajaj was the leading scooter maker in the country. Its Chetak scooter had a waiting period of up to ten years, and the advertising line "Hamara Bajaj" became part of everyday speech.

When the economy opened up in the 1990s, buyers moved from scooters to motorcycles and Bajaj Auto faced strong competition. The company reinvented itself with a new factory at Chakan, heavy investment in research and the Pulsar motorcycle, which became a leader in its class.

Public life

Rahul Bajaj was known for speaking his mind. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 2006 to 2010 and received the Padma Bhushan in 2001.

Later years

The group was reorganised in 2008 into Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Finserv, now led by his sons Rajiv Bajaj and Sanjiv Bajaj. He stepped down as Chairman of Bajaj Auto in 2021 and was named Chairman Emeritus. He died in Pune on 12 February 2022 at the age of 83.