India's 'intrapreneur'

A M Naik created an exemplar of professional management

In a country dominated by family-owned and -managed companies, A M Naik’s long stewardship of engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) stands out as an exemplar of professional management. When he stepped down from chairmanship on September 30, a post he had held since 2003, he was widely feted for turning a solid engineering company with a turnover of Rs 6,883 crore in 1999, when he took charge as managing director and chief executive officer, into a Rs 1.12 trillion behemoth, a byword for reliability in complex projects from infrastructure to defence manufacture, in India and some 30 other countries.