Till last year, Arunachalam was the chief executive officer of the Rs 2,000 crore Murugappa group but his failing health forced him to step down. His brother, M V Subbaiah, took charge as the CEO of the group when he resigned.
Arunachalam, who stewarded the company's growth efforts from the very beginning, was largely responsible for turning around EID Parry and TI Cycles.
As president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and a board member of the RBI and Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad and Bangalore), he earned kudos for his unflinching faith in professional management and ethical business conduct.