 "Manjushree Khaitan, the chairperson of Kesoram Industries")
Manjushree Khaitan, the chairperson of Kesoram Industries and the younger daughter of group patriarch Basant Kumar Birla, passed away at Birla Park in Kolkata on Thursday after a prolonged illness. She was 69.
Khaitan joined the Kesoram board in October 1998. But Basant Kumar’s succession plan for Kesoram became apparent in 2013 when Khaitan was appointed executive vice-chairman. In July 2019, she took on the role of non-executive chairperson after her father's death.
Kesoram had two major businesses — tyre and cement — and Khaitan undertook several restructuring initiatives to steady the ship and bring down the debt. Last year, Kesoram decided to demerge its cement operations and approached UltraTech Cement, a company led by nephew Kumar Mangalam Birla, to take over the business in an all-stock deal. Regulatory approvals are awaited.
The tyre business was demerged some years back and acquired by Himadri Speciality Chemical and Dalmia Bharat Refractories under a corporate insolvency resolution.
According to a company insider, Khaitan was extremely committed to Kesoram. “And she had a phenomenal memory.”
She was equally involved with educational institutes and her close association with Ashok Hall group of schools spanned over four decades.
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She was dedicated to supporting the cause of the girl child, especially from the underprivileged sections of the society. As a connoisseur of art, she supported a large number of artists through her involvement with Birla Academy of Fine Arts.
In 2023, Khaitan’s daughter and co-chairperson of Mangalam Cement, Vidula Jalan, had passed away.
