Venu Srinivasan

Venu Srinivasan is an Indian Industrialist, who is the Chairman of Sundaram-Clayton Group which includes TVS Motor Company, the third largest two wheeler manufacturer in India and also companies that manufacture automotive components in India. He is also the Chairman, Board of Trustees, of the Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswany Temple and also the Managing Trustee for the Srinivasan Services Trust (SST) the social arm of Sundaram-Clayton Limited and TVS Motor Company.

Career

Venu Srinivasan is the grandson of the TVS Group's founder, T. V. Sundaram Iyengar. After graduating as an engineer from the College of Engineering, Guindy, he completed a master's degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University in the USA.

He became the Managing Director of Sundaram Clayton Ltd. in May 1979. He went on to become Chairman of TVS Motor Company in July 2002.

In the late 1980s, Srinivasan scripted a turnaround of the company, which was then mired in labour trouble and was sinking into the red. Srinivasan dealt with the situation sternly and shut the factory down for three months, forcing the unions to relent. He then re-structured operations by upgrading plant machinery, investing in new technologies and implementing Total Quality Management practices. He also brought in Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya of the University of Warwick as a consultant to provide guidance.In 2001, TVS Motor Company split with Suzuki and started manufacturing on its own. TVS Motor Company re-entered contention by successfully launching Victor, India's first indigenously built four stroke motorcycle. The slew of launches that followed propelled TVS Motor Company to become the third largest two wheeler manufacturer in India.