Venkataraman Krishnamurthy

( Jan 14 1925 - Jan 26 2022 )

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Achievements

Venkataraman Krishnamurthy (14 January 1925 – 26 June 2022) was an Indian civil servant. V. Krishnamurthy is known as the "Father of Public sector undertakings in India" for his leadership and successful contribution in turning around Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL), Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), and GAIL (India) Limited (GAIL) into the most profit making industry in India and globally. He was chairman and CEO of BHEL, MUL, SAIL, and GAIL. He was Chairman of IIM Bangalore and Ahmedabad; IIT Delhi; Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar; and the Centre for Organization Development, Hyderabad. He has also been Chairman of the Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment Council. He was Member of the National Advisory Council from 2004 to 2008. Among other positions, he has served as Member, Planning Commission and Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Industry. He was the Chairman of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council, holding the rank of a Cabinet Minister up to 2014. He was one of the founding trustees of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation headed by Sonia Gandhi with Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other distinguished members as its trustees. He began working with the then Madras Electricity Board in 1944. Later he had the privilege of working directly with India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the Planning Commission from 1954 in the Second Five Year plan incharge of power projects and then with former Prime Ministers Lal Bahadur Sastri, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh in various positions in the Government of India. V Krishnamurthy was born on 14 January 1925 in the temple town Karuveli. His initial V stands for his father's name Venkataraman. He had two brothers and three sisters –ten year elder brother Subamanian and two year younger brother Vaidyanathan. He married Rajam. He has two sons Jayakar and Chandra. He also had eight year elder sister Janaki Muthukrishnan, elder sister Valambal Venkataraman and younger sister Jayam Ramamurthy. His grandfather was a wealthy landlord in his village Karuveli, in Thanjavur region. In 1930 due to floods in his village his family lost all the lands. They sold their house and left the village. He went with his mother to live with his uncle. His father went to Chennai to do business. His mother died when he was 11 years old. Because of their poor financial condition, his brothers had to discontinue education and go for employment. His eldest brother joined Southern Railways and another brother joined Kalki magazine as circulation manager. He did 3 year diploma in electrical engineering from CNT technical Institute in 1943. He passed competitive examination conducted by Union public services commission and joined Central Engineering Services in 1955. He held a Doctorate in Economics from the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Krishnamurthy was married and had two children. He died from age-related ailments on 26 June 2022 at his home in Chennai. He was aged 97.

Profession

Indian civil servant

Address

Madras, India