Manjushree Khaitan, who ran the city-based cement maker Kesoram Industries with an iron fist despite battling prolonged illness, died at her Birla Park residence here on Thursday.

Khaitan, the younger daughter of late industrialist Basant Kumar Birla, was 69. Her daughter, Vidula Jalan, passed away last year too. The last rites of Khaitan took place later in the evening in the presence of Birla family members, including nephew Kumar Mangalam Birla, and well wishers.

She joined the board of Kesoram, the flagship of BK Birla Group, in 1998 and became chairman in 2019 after the death of her father. For the past one year or so, she ran the affairs of the company from the Gurusaday Dutta Road bungalow with the help of senior executives.

Those who worked closely recalled the steely resolve Khaitan demonstrated to turn around Kesoram from a debt trap while battling falling health induced by chronic illness. Despite setbacks, Khaitan never gave up on her effort to turn around and carried out a series of restructuring measures and infused cash into the company.

However, the board of Kesoram, which has two cement plants in South India, decided to approach Kumar Mangalam-run UltraTech Cements last year to take over the cement business in an all stock deal. The regulatory clearance for the transaction is awaited. If the demerger and transfer of the cement business still goes on according to plan, Kesoram would become only a pale shadow of the past, having left with no significant business.

While her commitment to Kesoram was well-known, she was equally passionate about education, and in the Ashok Hall group of schools in particular. Khaitan was also a patron of art and culture and supported a large number of artists through the Birla Academy of fine arts.