CHENNAI: Sanmar Group chairman Narayan Sankar passed away here on Sunday following a brief illness. He was 77. A pioneer in PVC manufacturing, Sankar came up with original choices for integrated processes of manufacturing at various facilities of Chemplast. He was among the people who separated ownership from the management, and he empowered the management with a pool of talented professionals.
Before serving as chairman of Sanmar Group, Sankar was the president of Assocham (1991-92), chairman of the Indo-US Joint Business Council (1998-99), chairman of the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry (1986-87), and president of the Madras Management Association (1981-87). He was also on the Board of NOCIL, Mumbai, and the India Advisory Board of FLSmidth, Denmark.
Sankar was involved with the management of a number of educational and charitable organisations. He was also a board member of the CHILDS Trust, and had earlier served as chairman of The Chennai Willingdon Corporate Foundation and Chennai Heritage, and member of the Board of Governors of IIM-Kozhikode. He also headed the State’s tennis and cricket associations.
Sankar also served as the Honorary Consul General for Denmark in South India from 1989 to 2017, and was awarded the ‘Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog, First Class’ by the Danish government.
Venu Srinivasan, chairman emeritus of TVS Group, said, “Sankar was one of the pioneering industrialists of South India. I watched him lead the Sanmar Group with foresight. He was early to adopt modern management practices. He pushed international growth and investment to make Sanmar a leading player globally.”
CM condoles death
In his condolence message, CM MK Stalin lauded the dedicated service of the departed industrialist as chief of various associations such as ASSOCHAM and Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry