Narayanan Sankar (19 November 194517 April 2022) was an Indian industrialist and chairman of the Sanmar group, a diversified Indian conglomerate. During a career spanning over five decades, he led the group's diversification into multiple businesses ranging from chemicals to shipping. Sankar had also been the president of the Indian industry organization

ASSOCHAM The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India () is a Non-governmental organization, non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in New Delhi, India. The organisation represents the interests of trade and commerce in ...

and chairman of the

Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a non-governmental, industry-led and industry-managed organisation whose main purpose is to influence government policy on economy, trade, commerce and industry. It also works for better education, healt ...

Early life

Sankar was born on 19 November 1945 to Madhuram and K. S. Narayanan, and was the elder of two siblings. He was the grandson of Indian industrialist S. N. N. Sankaralinga Iyer, who was the founder of India Cements and Indo-Commercial Bank. Sankar obtained his bachelor's in science from AC College of Technology in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(now Chennai) and later went on to get his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

from the Illinois Institute of Technology in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Sankar was involved with cricket and tennis as a youngster. He was coached on the tennis court by T.K. Ramanathan, who was the father of Indian tennis player Ramanathan Krishnan and grandfather of tennis player Ramesh Krishnan. His tennis career was cut short when he was diagnosed with

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

when he was 17. He continued to play cricket for the Madras league cricket team Jai Hind CC playing as a batsman and a medium pace bowler, and was known to be a

slip Slip or SLIP may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Slip (fish), also known as Black Sole * Slip (horticulture), a small cutting of a plant as a specimen or for grafting * Muscle slip, a branching of a muscle, in anatomy Computing and ...

fielder.

Career

Sankar started his career with the Sanmar group's flagship company Chemplast in 1961 after returning to India upon the completion of his masters. The group's name itself was a combination of his name and his brother, N. Kumar's names. Sankar led the group's acquisition of Industrial Chemicals and Monomers, a company that manufactured

carbide In chemistry, a carbide usually describes a compound composed of carbon and a metal. In metallurgy, carbiding or carburizing is the process for producing carbide coatings on a metal piece. Interstitial / Metallic carbides The carbides of the ...

. He led the group's efforts in developing integrated manufacturing processes for their chemicals, specifically for the production of the synthetic plastic polymer, polyvinyl chloride, at Chemplast. During his time at the group, he led the group's growth both

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

and through

acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

. The group expanded its business footprint and helped with the group's international expansion. The group had joint ventures with companies including Bayer Corporation, Cabot Corporation, AMP Australia, Dragoco, and Tyco International, and expanded its focus to include shipping, finance, insurance. He introduced modern management practices and principles of corporate governance within the group, separating ownership from management. In the late 1970s, Sankar and his brother Kumar's families were involved in a legal battle with

N. Srinivasan Narayanaswami Srinivasan (born 3 January 1945) is an Indian industrialist. He is a former Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and former President of the BCCI, the governing body for cricket in India. He is also the managing ...

and his brother N. Ramachandran over the running of India Cements. This had resulted in the intervention of financial institutions including

IDBI The IDBI Bank Limited (IDBI Bank or IDBI) is a development finance institution under the ownership of Life Insurance Corporation of India and Government of India. It was established in 1964 as Industrial Development Bank of India, a developmen ...

which forced both Sankar and Srinivasan's families out of the board of the company and had bureaucrats and professional managers run the company, and at one point even attempted to sell-off the company to ITC Limited, the Indian tobacco giant. However, in the early 1990s, the families reconciled and Sankar was made the chairman while Srinivasan was given charge of running the company. Sankar stepped down from his positions in 2007 and the Sanmar group sold their stake in the company in 2013. Sankar served in leadership roles at multiple industry organizations including president of

between 1991 and 1992, chairman of the

between 1986 and 1987, chairman of the Indo US Joint Business Council between 1998 and 1999. He partnered with other auto-industry leaders to draft the Tamil Nadu state government's industry policy in the 1990s, culminating in the setup of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

greenfield Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to: Engineering and Business * Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation * Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist * Greenf ...

manufacturing plant in partnership with

Mahindra and Mahindra Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai. It was established in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed and later renamed as Mahindra & Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group, ...

in Maraimalainagar in Tamil Nadu. He was the honorary consul of Denmark in South India between 1989 and 2017 and had been awarded the

Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

, first class, by the Danish government. Sankar remained involved in cricket and tennis over the years. He ran the Madras first-division cricket team Jolly Rovers; amongst the players from the club included Indian cricketer S. Venkataraghavan and

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

Bharath Reddy. The Chemplast cricket team had cricketers like Anil Kumble and

Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh (born 3 July 1980) is a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha and an Indian retired cricketer and cricket commentator, who played for the Indian national cricket team from 1998 - 2016. Singh was a right-arm spin bowler. In India ...

playing for the team. He also owned the Alwarpet CC cricket team. Sankar had also served as the vice president of the All India Tennis Association and the president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association. He was also a patron of the arts and was the chairman of Sruthi foundation, a classical performing arts organization. Sankar was a member of the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.

Personal life

Sankar and his wife, Chandra, had a son and a daughter. Sankar died on 17 April 2022 in Chennai, India. He was aged 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sankar, N. 1945 births 2022 deaths Indian industrialists Illinois Institute of Technology alumni Indian cricket administrators Order of the Dannebrog