Come 31 March and Atul Kirloskar, Chairman of the Board, Kirloskar Oil Engines (KOEL), will retire, as he is attaining the age of 70.
To succeed him, the Board of Directors has picked Rahul Kirloskar, currently a non-executive director of the Company, to play chairperson. Gauri Kirloskar, currently the managing director of the Company, will serve as vice chairperson, in addition to her current responsibility as the MD of the Company, known for manufacturing generator sets, internal combustion engines and farm equipment.
Atul Kirloskar has given over 43 years of his life to KOEL playing various executive and non-executive roles, having joined the Company in 1983. At the time he was appointed as the executive vice president of erstwhile KOEL [now known as Kirloskar Industries (KIL)] in November 1984 and co-opted on the Board in August 1985 taking over as the managing director.
In 1988, he was also appointed as the vice chairman of erstwhile KOEL and held the position till July 1998 when he was elected as chairman and managing director of the Board of erstwhile KOEL. Kirloskar has served the various committees of the Board, in executive and non executive roles over the years.
Post proposed demerger in January 2009, he was appointed on the Board of KOEL. The demerger was completed in March 2010. He has served as the managing director of the Company from 31 March, 2010 to 25 January, 2012. He continued as the executive director and chairman from January 2012 to March 2023 and thereafter as the non-executive director and chairman of the Company.
While the Board appreciated his contribution to the Company, Atul Kirloskar himself admitted, “It has been a true privilege to be part of KOEL’s journey over the years. We have been working on this transition for the last couple of years, as a planned succession”.
He believes that “timely and planned succession is very important for the Company. It is also important that the new leadership gets the freedom to take the Company forward, in line with their vision and plans”.
Kirloskar will, therefore, be stepping down completely from the Board and all positions in the Company. He wished “Rahul and Gauri the very best” expressing confidence that “we have the right team to take KOEL to new heights”.
Rahul Kirloskar intends “to take forward the great work that was done in the Company under Atul’s leadership” and looks forward to “working with Gauri and the management team to take the Company towards its goals.”