Venu Srinivasan
Born
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
NationalityIndian
EducationCollege of Engineering, Guindy
Purdue University
OccupationIndustrialist
TitleChairman Emeritus of TVS Motor Company[1]
Board member ofT. V. Sundaram Iyengar & Sons
SpouseMallika Srinivasan
ChildrenLakshmi Venu, Sudarshan Venu
RelativesTVS family
Prema Srinivasan (mother)
Sheela Balaji (sister)
T. V. Sundaram Iyengar (grandfather)

Venu Srinivasan is an Indian industrialist. He is Chairman Emeritus of TVS Motor Company, one of the leading manufacturers of two-wheelers in the world and Sundaram-Clayton Limited, a leading manufacturer of auto components in India. He also serves on the board of Tata Sons Ltd., the holding company of the conglomerate the Tata Group and TVS & Sons. He is a Director on the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India. He is also Vice Chairman of Tata Trusts. Tata Trusts holds 66% of the equity capital of Tata Sons. He was conferred the Padma Bhushan Award, the third Highest civilian award in India, in January 2020.[2][3]

As part of the social outreach of TVS Motors and Sundaram-Clayton, he started and oversees Srinivasan Services Trust (SST), which works in more than 2500 villages in India.[4] SST follows a holistic development approach in villages with active participation of the community. The focus areas are societal development through development of women and children, water conservation, improving livelihoods through agriculture & livestock and preservation & conservation of environment.

Srinivasan was also the chairman, Board of Trustees, of the Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple and has supported restoration work at the complex and several other ancient temples in India. He was also appointed as a non-official director on the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India in 2022.[5]

Career

Venu Srinivasan is the grandson of the TVS Group's founder, T. V. Sundaram Iyengar.[6] He did his schooling at Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chennai. After graduating from the College of Engineering, Guindy,[7] he completed a Master of Science degree in management from Purdue University in Indiana (United States).[8]

He has received a Doctor of Management by Purdue University and a Doctor of Science by University of Warwick in Coventry, UK and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India.[9]

He became the managing director of Sundaram-Clayton in May 1979. He went on to become the chairman of TVS Motor Company. In the late 1980s, Srinivasan scripted a turnaround for the two-wheeler maker, which was mired in labour troubles with striking workers, leading to mounting losses. Srinivasan shut the factory down for three months, forcing the unions to relent. He then upgraded plant machinery, invested in new technologies and implemented Total Quality Management (TQM), a Japanese method of process-driven manufacturing.[10]

He also brought in Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya of the University of Warwick as a consultant to provide guidance. In 2001, ending years of partnership with Suzuki, TVS Motor Company split from the Japanese automaker and started manufacturing on its own.[11]

TVS Motor Company re-entered the market by launching TVS Victor – India's first indigenously built four-stroke motorcycle.[12] The launches that followed, set TVS Motor on the path to becoming India's third-largest two-wheeler manufacturer.

Under Srinivasan's leadership as the managing director, Sundaram-Clayton's brakes division won the Deming Prize in 1998 for having "achieved distinctive performance improvements through application of company-wide quality control".[13] In 2002, TVS Motor Company also won the Deming Prize, becoming the first two-wheeler company in the world to do so.[14] In 2019, Srinivasan himself received the Deming Distinguished Service Award, granted to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the dissemination and promotion of Total Quality Management.[15][16]

Awards and honours

Venu Srinivasan was elected as President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) year 2009–10.[17] Srinivasan was conferred the coveted Padma Shri Award by the President of India in 2010 for his contributions in the field of trade and industry.[18] He is the "Goodwill Envoy for Culture and Diplomacy of the Republic of Korea". He was earlier the Honorary Consul General, Republic of Korea (in Chennai). In 2010, he was honoured by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, with the civilian honour, Order of Diplomatic Service Merit, in recognition of his contribution to promoting bilateral relations between South Korea and India.[19]

Asian Network for Quality (ANQ) chose Srinivasan as one of the winners for its Ishikawa-Kano Award for the year 2012, for his contribution to the theory and practice of quality management within TVS Motor Company.[20]

Srinivasan was appointed the Honorary Commander of Korean Naval vessel, ROKS Choi Young (DDH-981)[21] for his dedication to enhance the friendship and co-operation between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of India. In December 2014, Srinivasan was conferred an honorary citizenship by the Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, the 2nd largest city in Korea.[22]

Year Name Awarding organization Ref.
2003 Star of Asia Businessweek [11]
2004 Doctor of Science University of Warwick [23]
2004 Jamsetji Tata Lifetime Achievement Award Indian Society for Quality [24]
2005 J R D Tata Corporate Leadership Award All India Management Association [25]
2009 Doctor of Science IIT, Kharagpur, India [26]
2010 Padma Shri Government of India [27]
2010 Order of Diplomatic Service Merit Government of South Korea [28]
2012 Ishikawa-Kano Award Asian Network for Quality [29]
2014 Doctor of Management Purdue University, USA [30]
2014 Honorary Commander of Korean Naval vessel, ROKS Choi Young Republic of Korean Navy [31]
2014 Honorary Citizen of Busan City, Republic of Korea Busan Metropolitan Council [32]
2015 Goodwill Envoy for Public Diplomacy Republic of Korea
2016 Champion of Champions and Best CEO Business Today
2018 Life Time Achievement Award F A D A
2019 Deming Distinguished Service Award JUSE[33] [15]
2020 Padma Bhushan Government of India [34]
2021 Man of the Year Autocar Professional [35]
2023 Outstanding Institution Builder Award Union Minister of Civil Aviation [36]

Criticism

Venu Srinivasan has also been criticised on multiple counts when he was the Chairman of Board of Trustees of the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple, Srirangam as head of Thiruppani committee of the Kabaleeswararar Temple, Chennai and a court case is ongoing with regards to unauthorised and illegal demolition of a Siva temple in Thirukurungudi Temple.

Widely publicised complaints by Rangarajan Narasimhan, there are multiple FIRs and court cases against Venu Srinivasan:

References

  1. ^ "TVS appoints Ralf Speth as chairman; Venu Srinivasan to continue as MD". 8 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Anand Mahindra, Venu Srinivasan to be honoured with Padma Bhushan; Naukri.com founder to get Padma Shri". The Economic Times. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  3. ^ "MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS" (PDF). padmaawards.gov.in. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  4. ^ SST (1 April 2015). "Srinivasan Services Trust". SST. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Anand Mahindra, Ravindra Dholakia, Venu Srinivasan, Pankaj Patel appointed to RBI Board". Economic Times. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  6. ^ "'Indian customer is not aggressive in his demands' (Interview with Venu Srinivasan)". Rediff.com. 29 July 1999. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  7. ^ Aruna Natarajan (30 August 2018). "Why alumni of Chennai's College of Engineering, Guindy are a worried lot today". Citizen Matters.
  8. ^ "Warwick's doctorate to Venu Srinivasan". The Times of India. 16 July 2004. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Purdue University honours TVS Motor Co's Venu Srinivasan". Autocar Professional. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Mr. Venu Srinivasan - Doctor of Management - Purdue University". www.purdue.edu. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  11. ^ a b "TVS Motor Company Ltd – Executive Profile: Venu Srinivasan". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  12. ^ "TVS Targets 24% Of Market Share This Fiscal". Financial Express. 19 August 2002. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  13. ^ "Sundaram Clayton bags Deming Prize". Business Standard India. Business Standard. 23 October 1998. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  14. ^ "TVS Motor Bags Deming Award For Quality Management". Financial Express. 3 November 2002. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  15. ^ a b "2019 Deming Prize Winners". Deming Prize.
  16. ^ "Deming Award definition". Deming Prize.
  17. ^ Announcement (27 March 2009). "Mr Venu Srinivasan is new CII President". Business Standard India. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  18. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  19. ^ "Venu Srinivasan Conferred Award". The Hindu. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  20. ^ "Venu Srinivasan gets Ishikawa-Kano award". Business Line. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  21. ^ "Venu Srinivasan appointed honorary commanding officer of Korean naval vessel". Thehindubusinessline. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  22. ^ "TVS Chairman conferred honorary citizenship of Busan". Thehindubusinessline. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  23. ^ "Venu Srinivasan receives honorary doctorate from University of Warwick, UK news". domain-b.com. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  24. ^ "Mr Venu Srinivasan is new CII President". Business Standard. 27 March 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  25. ^ "TVS head Venu Srinivasan bags JRD Tata Award". Economic Times. 4 February 2005. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  26. ^ "Honorary Doctorate for TVS Motors' Venu Srinivasan". The New Indian Express. 22 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  27. ^ "Padma awardees Venu Srinivasan, Manoharan overwhelmed". MSN News. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  28. ^ "Venu Srinivasan conferred award". MSN News. Chennai, India. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  29. ^ "Awardees of 2012 Ishikawa-Kano Award". ANQ Congress 2012. Hong Kong. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  30. ^ "Purdue University, USA Honours Mr. Venu Srinivasan". Purdue University 2012. United States of America. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  31. ^ "Venu Srinivasan appointed commanding officer of Korean naval vessel". Economic Times. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  32. ^ "TVS Chairman Venu Srinivasan conferred honorary citizenship of Busan". Economic Times. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  33. ^ "Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers". JUSE.
  34. ^ "Anand Mahindra, Venu Srinivasan to be honoured with Padma Bhushan; Naukri.com founder to get Padma Shri". The Economic Times. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  35. ^ "Venu Srinivasan is Autocar Professional's Man of the Year 2021".
  36. ^ "Outstanding Institution Builder Award".
  37. ^ "Rangarajan Narasimhan vs The State Of Tamil Nadu on 19 January, 2022".
  38. ^ a b "Scion of TVS Group in trouble".
  39. ^ "Idol theft case: Anticipatory bail granted to Venu Srinivasan". 29 November 2018.

External links

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