The founder and chief of the Rs 1,530-crore city-based Kalyani group, Neelkanth Kalyani, has stepped down as chairman of the countrys largest forgings manufacturing company, Bharat Forge, to make way for his son Baba Kalyani.
The decision to retire as chairman of the company was announced by Neelkanth Kalyani here on Saturday at the 36th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company.
A special resolution was also passed at the AGM appointing his son Baba Kalyani as the new chairman of the company.
The board of directors of Bharat Forge has, however, decided to appoint the founder of the company as chairman emeritus of Bharat Forge.
The shareholders present at the AGM also adopted a resolution to this effect.
Kalyanis decision to retire came as a surprise to the shareholders as this did not form part of the agenda of the AGM and was not mentioned in the notice of the meeting.
The shareholders, however, welcomed the decision.
I have, for the last three-and-a-half decades, devoted myself entirely in founding, nurturing and building this institution, Kalyani said while giving his last speech as the chairman of the company and gave credit for the team effort for building a successful enterprise.
In fact, Baba Kalyani had taken over as the managing director of the company in July 1994 and had since taken over the entire responsibility for running the groups flagship.
The Kalyani group has interests in forgings, automobile components, steel, seamless tubes and consumer electronic products.
The annual general meeting also passed a resolution for buy-back of shares as and when the law is passed.
Reviewing the performance of the company during the four-month period ended July 1997, Baba Kalyani said though the domestic forgings sales was down by 760 tonnes over the previous year, exports were higher by 7,600 tonnes, up 83 per cent.
The overall sales during the period was up 8.22 per cent at Rs 131 crore (Rs 121 crore).
The domestic automobile market, he said, will continue to remain slack as heavy commercial and light commercial vehicles are witnessing a negative growth.
The companys fortunes are directly linked to the growth of the automobile industry as it is a major supplier of forgings and engine components.
The shareholders expressed concern over the heavy losses incurred by the investment subsidiaries promoted by the company owing to the fall in value of investments.
The investment subsidiaries of the groups investments are mainly in the group companies.
