‘A powerful personality with a touch of arrogance’ is how Rajan Nanda was described by many. The 76-year-old Chairman of the Escorts Group passed away at a hospital in Gurugram on Sunday night.

Those who knew Nanda closely described him as one who liked to keep his distance from bureaucrats and politicians, though he had friends in both the fraternities — some friendships dated back to his days at the elite Doon School, Dehradun.

Escorts Ltd would like to remember him as a committed philanthropist and visionary.

“On receiving a phone call from him (Nanda), the person getting the call would stand up,” a person who worked with the Nanda family for around 20 years, requesting anonymity, told BusinessLine. This person described it as respect for the man, though some would also see it as fear.

But, in the same breath, he said Nanda was sensitive towards people around him and could not think of any ‘punishment’ or harm to anyone.

Nanda was one of the hardest working persons in the company, many vouched.

“He would reach the Faridabad (headquarters of Escorts) office at 8 am sharp everyday and would be there in office well after closing time, 4:30 pm, making plans for the future, on what can be done next in the company,” the person said.

“He had friends like Arun Singh (former Minister of State for Defence), but he never took favours from them. In fact, some of his political friends were willing to help, but he never went after them seeking favours,” said the person.

According to some, it was his wife Ritu Nanda, daughter of Bollywood actor-producer Raj Kapoor, who introduced him to many powerful families. In fact, contrary to perceptions, his marriage was fixed by his father HP Nanda.

In the early 1980s, when Sawraj Paul attempted a hostile takeover of the company, it was HP Nanda, and not Rajan Nanda, who fought for the company, as junior Nanda was reluctant to approach his politician friends.

“Rajan was not involved in that fight at all. HP Nanda and Fali Nariman fought that battle. He (Senior Nanda) had said — if the government wants to nationalise Escorts let them, but I won’t give Escorts on a platter,” said a person in the know.

Leading manufacturer

Two weeks after the demise of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the case was won, the person said, adding that the same Escorts stands taller today. The company today is a leading manufacturer of tractors and construction equipment. It also caters to the Railways.

Nanda had joined Escorts in 1965 at the age of 23 and took over as Chairman in 1994, when his father stepped down after a 50-year-long innings.

He has two children — Natasha and Nikhil Nanda. Nikhil, the MD of the company, is married to Shweta Bachchan, daughter of megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

The company has a net worth of around ₹2,500 crore and its market cap (as of Monday in BSE) is ₹10,805.15 crore.

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