Rajan Nanda: The man who fast-tracked Escorts' tractor business

It is interesting that Nanda tried his hands over multiple businesses but in his lifetime realised the need to focus on the core, which is, tractor beside construction and railway equipment

Rajan Nanda , chairman and managing director of tractor and construction equipment maker Escorts, passed away on Sunday at the age of 76. Nanda had joined Escorts in 1965 when he was twenty-three and became the chairman in 1994 after his father H P Nanda, who had founded the company, stepped down.

Nanda’s death comes at a time when the tractor maker is firing on all cylinders, thanks to three consecutive years of normal rainfall. The company more than doubled its profit in FY18 to Rs 3.44 billion. In May, Escorts’ stock price rose to a record high of Rs 1,018. Nanda’s son Nikhil, currently the managing director, is actively involved in the business.

Nanda died at the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon, at the outskirts of Delhi. Incidentally, Medanta was founded by renowned cardiac surgeon Naresh Trehan who once used to run the Escorts Heart Institute & Research Centre owned by Rajan. Nandas sold the Delhi hospital to Fortis for Rs 5.85 billion in 2005. The money was used to bring down the debt at Escorts, the flagship company. Read More