Shekhar asks nephew Kushagra to cool it

MUMBAI: Rahul Bajaj’s cousin Shekhar Bajaj on Wednesday came out in the open to give his warring nephew, Kushagra, a simple message: by getting too aggressive with his demands, he may be delaying what the Bajajs had anyway decided to give him - control of Bajaj Hindusthan.

“He’s going to lose out. We (the four Bajaj cousins - Rahul, Shekhar, Niraj and Madhur) have to finally agree on the separation that he wants. He can’t thrust it on us by making aggressive demands,” says Shekhar.

When Shekhar talks about Kushagra, it’s with mixed feelings. At one level, there’s admiration for what he has achieved with Bajaj Hindusthan, the sugar company Kushagra has taken to the No 5 position in the world. But Shekhar is distressed that a simple family separation has led to the washing of so much dirty linen in public.

In a recent diatribe against group patriarch Rahul Bajaj, Kushagra accused him and his three cousins of going back on the commitment to have a clean separation, including the handover of controlling interest in Bajaj Hindusthan.

While Shishir Bajaj, Kushagra’s father, and Rahul are blood brothers, Shekhar, Madhur and Niraj are cousins, but they refer to themselves as the Bajaj brothers.

“At the age of 30, Kushagra has really catapulted Bajaj Hindusthan to a new orbit. As an uncle, I am proud of him”, Shekhar says. “Kushagra can become the Arcelor Mittal
of sugar companies in the world,” he says, but warns that if Kushagra makes heavy demands on the group, he could end up losing all.

Among other things, Kushagra and Shishir have demanded a higher cash compensation from the other Bajajs. The Bajajs say they will hand over the 25% group holding held through Bachhraj & Company as soon as they can create a mirror company to hold the Bajaj Hindusthan shares. The existing company, which is 78% owned by the group, also houses some shares of Bajaj Auto and Mukand, which the group will not part with.

Kushagra’s attitude came as a surprise to many, including his uncles.

If ownership issues continue to prolong and his sugar company does better than before, he could end up losing everything since the controlling shareholding is still under the grip of Rahul Bajaj and his three cousins.

Shekhar, who studied with Shishir in New York University and lived together with him for two years, is perturbed that relationships have worsened to this extent. “We will, of course, hand over the sugar maker to Shishir. After all, he’s been involved in the company for many years,” he adds.

Shekhar remembers the dark days in 2002-03 when Bajaj Electricals, his own flagship company, was deep in the red.

“Those were really tough days”, he reminisces. “I had to literally meet our bankers with folded hands. He had asked Rahul Bajaj whether his cash-rich two-wheeler major, Bajaj Auto, could help. “He declined my request point blank. We (Rahul and Shekhar) discussed the issue and he instead offered to sign a personal cheque, which I naturally declined.”

In hindsight, Shekhar Bajaj agrees that Rahul had a point. Corporate governance and transparency would have been bypassed had this happened.

“We wouldn’t have survived had we depended on a tap for funds. The tough times made me tough and I took tough decisions. We reduced inventory drastically,” he says of the difficult days.

“We were forced to make a few sacrifices. The restructuring at Bajaj Electricals was kickstarted when we sold a large tract of real estate in Pune. Many advised me against the move as they pointed out that we’ll require the land for future expansion. Our future expansion will depend on whether we survive this present crisis, I argued with my well-wishers.”

Bajaj Electricals is doing well now, in line with all the other Bajaj group companies. From a loss of Rs 13 crore posted in 2002-03, the company recouped and made net profits in the following years of Rs 4 crore, Rs 23 crore and Rs 47 crore in 2005-06. The upward climb towards more profits could continue this year, he says.