Rajiv Bajaj, 54
MD, Bajaj Auto
As Managing Director of Bajaj Auto, the third-largest manufacturer of motorcycles and the largest manufacturer of three-wheelers in the world, with a presence across 70 nations, Rajiv Bajaj has nothing to gain by being critical of those in power. But then not for nothing is he the son of independent-minded Rahul Bajaj.
His company had a total turnover of Rs 31,652 crore for 2019-20, down by a marginal 0.5 per cent from the previous year, but Bajaj was more concerned about the lockdown, which he believes “decimated the economy” and “flattened the wrong curve (the GDP curve)”.
But he insists he is a critic of government policies rather than of the government. He has said on record that the bigger problem is the “fear virus” rather than the “flu virus”, and that though he is not a political person, he has the right to ask questions. He has, at the same time, said he has faced no political backlash.