Bajaj Group Chairman Emeritus Rahul Bajaj Passes Away At 83 After Prolonged Illness

Under his leadership, Bajaj Auto's turnover reached from 7.2 crores to 12 thousand crores and became the country's leading scooter and two-wheeler selling company.

The Chairperson emeritus of Bajaj Group Rahul Bajaj passed away on Saturday at the age of 83 after battling cancer for a long time. 

Bajaj was not keeping well for quite some time and passed away at around 1430 hrs on Saturday, the official said. His last rites will be held on Sunday.

"It is with deep sorrow that I inform you about the passing away of Shri Rahul Bajaj, husband of the late Rupa Bajaj and father of Rajiv/Deepa, Sanjiv/Shefali and Sunaina/Manish. He passed away on the afternoon of 12th February, 2022 in the presence of his closest family members," a statement from Bajaj Group read.

He is survived by two sons, Rajiv Bajaj and Sanjiv Bajaj, and a daughter Sunaina Kejriwal.

The noted industrialist and Padma Bhushan awardee resigned from his position of non-executive director and chairman at Bajaj Auto on April 30 last year.

Bajaj had taken charge of the Bajaj Group in 1965 and during his captaincy, the group soared to one of the biggest in the sub-continent.

Under his leadership, Bajaj Auto's turnover reached from 7.2 crores to 12 thousand crores and became the country's leading scooter and two-wheeler selling company.

Rahul Bajaj had close family friendship relations with the Nehru family for three generations. Rahul's father Kamalnayan and Indira Gandhi had studied in the same school for some time.

Reacting to the news, official Twitter handle of Mumbai Congress expressed condolences to Rahul Bajaj's family. "Our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Sh. Rahul Bajaj. May his soul rest in peace," Mumbai Congress tweeted.

Senior leaders including Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and others too extended their grief and condolences over the demise of the veteran businessman.

Gautam Hari Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director, Raymond Limited, also condoled Bajaj’s demise and said the “doyen of the Indian business world will be missed for his intellectual honesty and straightforwardness”.

“The passing away of Shri Rahul Bajaj, the patriarch of the Bajaj Group, one of the largest diversified groups of India, is a terrible loss to the corporate world,” he said.

Singhania said Bajaj’s contribution to the auto industry and steering the group during the license raj days will always be remembered.

“In immeasurable manner he has contributed to the growth of Maharashtra and the country. On behalf of the Raymond Group, I offer my sincere condolences to the Bajaj family,” he added.