Subbiah Murugappa

Subbiah Murugappa, Indian

Mr Subbiah, a third generation member of the Murugappa family, retired as Chairman of The Murugappa Group in January 2004, after 43 years of working in the family business. During his career, in addition to making a significant contribution towards encouraging innovation, he successfully turned around several companies within the Murugappa Group, including Carborundum Universal Ltd., T.I.Cycles and E.I.D Parry (India) Ltd. Today, the Murugappa Group, which is headquartered in Chennai, India, is a $3 billion plus conglomerate.

Mr Subbiah was President of the Association of Indian Engineering Industries, a predecessor to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the largest Indian Industry Chamber. He has been an active Chairman of the Workshop for the Rehabilitation of the Handicapped (WORTH Trust) and Treasurer of the Madras Crafts Foundation. Currently, he serves as a trustee of his family’s foundation, which operates four schools, four hospitals and a polytechnic and research centre for bringing appropriate technologies to the villages of India. He serves on the boards of SRF Ltd, Axis Bank Ltd and LMW Ltd. He also serves on the board of the Family Business Network in Lausanne. Recently the Government of India asked him to chair the newly formed public/private corporation called the National Skills Development Corporation of India.

Mr Subbiah has been a recipient of the JRD Tata Business Leadership Award in 2002 and the National HRD Award in 1988. The Murugappa family received the IMD Distinguished Family Business Award in 2001.

Mr Subbiah studied Engineering at the University of Birmingham and got his Diploma in Industrial Administration from the University of Aston in the UK. He attended the PMD program at the Harvard Business School in 1971. After his retirement, he spent a yearlong sabbatical at the Kellogg Business School’s centre for family enterprises.