It was one of industrialist Rahul Bajaj’s last major public appearances and he was fearless, as always. Speaking to Home Minister Amit Shah at a public meeting, he didn’t mince his words: “You are doing good work but if we criticise you, there is no confidence that you will appreciate that. I may be wrong. But we all feel that.” For good measure, he added: “In UPA2, we could criticise anyone…”

That intervention, which caused waves, was typical of the man who made Bajaj a household name. Says one person who worked with him for decades: “His business ethics were very high. Therefore, he had a clean conscience and could be outspoken. He could say what he wanted and would say ‘I am not afraid. I don’t need to be afraid. I sleep well at night.’ ”

In a similar vein, industrialist Harsh Goenka tweeted a photo of an X-ray showing a backbone with the words: “We shall miss the ONLY businessman with this X-ray.”

Bajaj was one of Indian industry’s larger-than-life figures. He was scrupulously straight-dealing and straight-talking and he never hesitated to speak his mind, even to the highest in the land. It’s a measure of the high standing enjoyed by Bajaj that the Maharashtra government immediately announced they would give him a state funeral – an unheard-of honour for an industrialist.

He was certainly one of the tallest, some might say the tallest figures, in the Indian business fraternity. He had been at the top of the pyramid since the 1970s when Indian industry was kept on a tight leash by the government. At that time, he split with his European partners and turned Bajaj Auto into a colossus that famously had waiting lists for its scooters stretching for several years. That was an era when there were few business success stories in India. Bajaj did hold an almost monopolistic position in the market. But he also took pains to ensure that he was marketing a quality product when such a thing was almost hard to find.

But then, Bajaj was not just any ordinary industrialist. He was a man who could rise above the fray. Says Tarun Das, former director-general and CII chief mentor: “People who worked with him always found him fair-minded and, importantly, able to think about more than his personal interests. It was possibly because of his upbringing.” His grandfather, Jamnalal Bajaj, had been described as the “Gandhian capitalist”.The Mahatma, himself, had called him Jamnalal his fifth son.

Even his rivals on the road conceded that Rahul Bajaj, who also served as a Rajya Sabha MP, had never allowed business issues to come in the way of their personal relations. “At no point in time did our business rivalry….come in the way of him giving me a smile and putting his arm on my shoulder and saying: ‘Hello Venu, we have no problems,’ ” recalled TVS Group Chairman, Venu Srinivasan.

He also worked tirelessly for the good of Indian industry and was a key player in the CII (Confederation of Indian Industry). In fact, he was the only person who served two terms as the organisation’s president – in 1979-80 and again in 1999-2000. His second stint came when the scheduled president suddenly stood down and the consensus replacement was Bajaj.

Bajaj (born in Calcutta in June 1938) was an unusual mix in that he was both a forward-thinking individual and also a strong traditionalist. Unusually for a Bombay Marwari family, he studied at St Stephen’s College in Delhi. That was followed by a two-year MBA course at Harvard. Bajaj, who took over Bajaj Auto, in 1972 brought all these influences to the table when running his businesses. He had a famous joke he used to tell: “Bajaj Auto is a professionally run company. Everybody is empowered in my team. They can do what they want as long as it’s in the company’s interest. But if they want to spend Rs 5, they have to clear it with me.”

Definitely, he had imbibed a huge amount from his forbears like Jamnalal Bajaj and Kamalnarayan Bajaj who were famed for their probity. It was from them probably that he also got a strong sense of nationalism, long before it was a word that’s now tossed around frequently. Says Das: “He was very committed to India and very proud of India. He agonised when India was not doing well. Also, he was very committed to Indian industry.” Das notes that Bajaj was one of the first Indian businessmen to go international in a big way, putting up factories in countries like Indonesia.

Adds Das: “He was very devoted and dedicated to the association but never wanted anything for himself. He didn’t come and say the customs duty must be increased or a licence should not be given to somebody. He would say ‘my business is my business you don’t have to do anything. Just build a good institution.’ “

Das was only nine months younger than Bajaj and the two built a close relationship that stretched back to 1976. Two years later, Bajaj became the president of CII’s forerunner AIEI. Das points out that Bajaj ensured that CII watched carefully over its finances. Says Das: “CII became financially strong thanks to people like Rahul Bajaj. He was our guardian and father figure in CII. He stayed the course from 1976 to now without dropping a day, as it were. Can you imagine the continuity of attention?” As a result of its strong finances, CII was able to open offices around the world.

Besides that, Bajaj and his wife played key roles in keeping the extended Bajaj family together. His cousin, Niraj Bajaj, took over as the chairman of Bajaj Auto last year. Rahul’s son Rajiv runs Bajaj Auto while his other son, Sanjiv, heads Bajaj Finance. Also on the Bajaj Auto board are other relatives, Shekhar Bajaj and Madhur Bajaj.

One defeat came in the late 1980s when he sought to buy Ashok Leyland but was outbid by the Hinduja group. He was said to have been cut up over the failed offer and remarked to one journalist at the time: “Trucks and two-wheelers. What synergy that would have been.” But afterwards, he decided to keep his eyes firmly on the two-wheeler market and did not diversify. As a result, Bajaj is financially rock-solid and has no leverage.

Famously, Bajaj was also one of the key figures in the Bombay Club which championed a level playing field for Indian industry and came into being soon after the moves to liberalise the Indian economy began. Bajaj was frank about his reasons for opposing opening up, arguing that Indian industry was not ready to face intense competition from giant international players.

Bajaj also believed firmly in simple living. When he was setting up his factory in Pune, he decided that though he hated the idea of moving out of Mumbai, he and the family would have to live in the Bajaj Auto colony next door to the factory. Rajiv and his brother and sister were not sent to boarding schools or even to Mumbai for their schooling and went to the same school as other executives and workers.

As Goenka said: “an era ends.”

Industrialists recall 'fearless' businessman

Uday Kotak, CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank, described Bajaj as 'bold and fearless' and recalled him as the man who spoke truth to power.

"He spoke for the entire industry and mentored many budding entrepreneurs," Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar Shaw tweeted.

Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group thanked Bajaj for advising and cheering him on. He said, "Your footprints on the sands of Indian Business will never be extinguished."

Hard to come to grips with the news that India’s most outspoken industrialist, Rahul Bajaj is no more, tweets Milind Deora