Venu Srinivasan

Venu Srinivasan is the grandson of the TVS Group's founder, T. V. Sundaram Iyengar.^[8] He did his schooling at Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chennai. After graduating from the College of Engineering, Guindy,^[9] he completed a Master of Science degree in management from Purdue University in Indiana (United States).^[10]

He has received a Doctor of Management by Purdue University and a Doctor of Science by University of Warwick in Coventry, UK and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India.^[11]

He became the managing director of Sundaram-Clayton in May 1979. He went on to become the chairman of TVS Motor Company. In the late 1980s, Venu scripted a turnaround for the two-wheeler maker, which was mired in labour troubles with striking workers, leading to mounting losses. Venu shut the factory down for three months, forcing the unions to relent. He then upgraded plant machinery, invested in new technologies and implemented Total Quality Management (TQM), a Japanese method of process-driven manufacturing.^[12]

He also brought in Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya of the University of Warwick as a consultant to provide guidance. In 2001, ending years of partnership with Suzuki, TVS Motor Company split from the Japanese automaker and started manufacturing on its own.^[13]

TVS Motor Company re-entered the market by launching TVS Victor – India's first indigenously built four-stroke motorcycle.^[14] The launches that followed, set TVS Motor on the path to becoming India's third-largest two-wheeler manufacturer.

Under Venu's leadership as the managing director, Sundaram-Clayton's brakes division won the Deming Prize in 1998 for having "achieved distinctive performance improvements through application of company-wide quality control".^[15] In 2002, TVS Motor Company also won the Deming Prize, becoming the first two-wheeler company in the world to do so.^[16] In 2019, Venu himself received the Deming Distinguished Service Award, granted to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the dissemination and promotion of Total Quality Management.^[17][18]

Venu Srinivasan was elected as President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) year 2009–10.^[19] Venu was conferred the coveted Padma Shri Award by the President of India in 2010 for his contributions in the field of trade and industry.^[20] He is the "Goodwill Envoy for Culture and Diplomacy of the Republic of Korea". He was earlier the Honorary Consul General, Republic of Korea (in Chennai). In 2010, he was honoured by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, with the civilian honour, Order of Diplomatic Service Merit, in recognition of his contribution to promoting bilateral relations between South Korea and India.^[21]

Asian Network for Quality (ANQ) chose Venu as one of the winners for its Ishikawa-Kano Award for the year 2012, for his contribution to the theory and practice of quality management within TVS Motor Company.^[22]

Venu was appointed the Honorary Commander of Korean Naval vessel, ROKS Choi Young (DDH-981)^[23] for his dedication to enhance the friendship and co-operation between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of India. In December 2014, Venu was conferred an honorary citizenship by the mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, the 2nd largest city in Korea.^[24]

As per Forbes list of India’s 100 richest tycoons, dated OCTOBER 09, 2024, Venu Srinivasan is ranked 55th with a net worth of $5.65 Billion.^[25]