Sunil Kanti Roy, who led the diversification of Bengal-based financial institution Peerless Group into hospitality, healthcare and real estate, passed away on Sunday night.

He was 78 and is survived by wife Shikha, son Jayanta and daughter Debasree.

Popularly known as S.K. Roy, he joined the business founded by his father Radhashyam Roy in 1969, joined the board in 1984 and went on to become the managing director in 1996, a post he continued to hold till his death.

When he took charge of the group, it was primarily focused on financial services. Peerless started its journey in 1932 from Narayangunj, Bangladesh, as The Peerless Insurance Co Ltd, which later came to be known as The Peerless General Finance & Investment Co Ltd.

Roy was born in Calcutta and Peerless had shifted base to Calcutta from Bangladesh when he joined the business.

After the death of Radhashyam Roy in 1960, his eldest son B.K. Roy took charge. The transition to S.K. Roy happened after the demise of his brother in 1985. Within a short period since then, the group diversified into real estate, hospitality and health care.

Today the Peerless Group boasts of a turnover of Rs 2,500 crore, employing close to 3,500 people. It has five hotels, one hospital which is in the midst of doubling capacity, and a real estate arm in a joint venture with the Bengal government. The financial business continues its operations even though regulatory changes took away much of the sheen of the early days.

His son Jayanta was elevated to the post of deputy managing director in October 2021.

During his long career, Roy was associated with many corporate bodies. He became the president of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry in 2009. Roy was also a board member of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation.

Mourning his death, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said Roy had left valuable contributions in the sphere of business even as he was engaged with many philanthropic activities.

A devotee of Ramkrishna Mission — he was the disciple of Swami Bireswarananda Maharaj — Roy was conferred the Padma Shree award in 2009.

He set up the B.K Roy Foundation, which carries out many of the social activities of the group, including Peerless Skill Academy.