T’PURAM/KANNUR: K P P Nambiar, founding chairman of Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (Keltron), passed away in Bengaluru on Tuesday. He was 86. Nambiar was recovering from a paralytic stroke and was undergoing treatment for age-related ailments.
Kunnathu Puthiya Veettil Padmanabhan Nambiar was born in a middle class family in Kalliassery, Kannur, to P P Chindan Nambiar and K P Madhavi Amma.
Nambiar had a major role to play in the industrial growth of the state. He also had a significant role in positioning the state in the electronic map of the country, much before the IT revolution. He was instrumental in developing Keltron as the first public sector electronics company in the country. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2006 for his contributions to the field of technology. Nambiar began his career in Bharat Electronics and had served at Texas Instruments in London and at Tata in Mumbai. He held the role of chairman of Keltron from 1973 to 1985.
Nambiar was a man who brought Kannur city into the limelight, establishing it as one of the premier centres for electronics development. In his early days, Nambiar used to walk several kilometres each day from his village to the Moothedeth High School in Thaliparamba. He graduated in Physics from the University of Madras and later went for higher studies in London in 1951 in the field of electronics.
Under Tata Power Company, he was instrumental in setting up the Industrial Electronics Research and Development Laboratory. He later served as a member of the Science Advisory Committee to the Union Cabinet and as chairman and managing director of Indian Telephone Industries Ltd, Bangalore, Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Electronics. After his retirement in 1989, he was appointed Honorary Special Advisor to the State Government. Nambiar conceived and founded Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram. He was the recipient of several awards for his contributions to the electronics field.