Exclusive! L&T's Legendry Boss 'Naik' Names His Heir

L&T's legendary A.M. Naik finally confirms his successor in an exclusive to Fortune India. But he won't have the luxury of an easy retirement. 

- Ashish Gupta

The silence is deafening. I’ve just asked S.N. Subrahmanyan, deputy managing director and president, L&T, if he’s ready to fill the large shoes of the legendary group executive chairman, A.M. Naik. I had met Naik in Mumbai a couple of days ago, and he told me he has been grooming Subrahmanyan for the top job. Except, it seems, someone forgot to send the Chennai-based successor that memo. Had he been wearing a tie, I can easily imagine him loosening the knot to breathe easier. “The chairman is very kind,” comes the weak reply a few frozen moments later. “Frankly,” he says after a while, “I have never thought through the succession issue because Naik’s legacy is something very difficult to match.” ¶ It’s not that Subrahmanyan (company insiders call him SNS) is a dark horse in the race to succeed Naik; within the company, he has been seen as one of the handful of Naik protégés. And of all the heirs in waiting, he’s the bookies’ favourite, having got five promotions in as many years, and running L&T’s biggest business— his engineering and construction business contributes nearly 55% to the company’s total revenues of Rs 1 lakh crore. “I have been mentoring him for the last 10 years,” Naik tells me.