Chennai: Think Indian cricket management and pops up just one name: N Srinivasan. The man is an institution by himself for having propelled Indian cricket on to the world stage with great vigour and passion. But he was also a brilliant industrialist and his company – India Cements – stands testimony to it.
India Cements and cricket have become inseparable. Its immense contribution towards the sport is extraordinary and both speak of the management genius of one man – N Srinivasan.
Today, this is being celebrated with the release of a ‘Coffee Table Book‘ on the company and its journey to success, by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
It will highlight the company’s growth over the last seven decades apart from 50 years (1968-2018) of the association of vice chairman and Managing Director N Srinivasan.
Written by Kalyani Candade, a professional writer, and designed by Malvika Mehra, it captures 50 years of association of Srinivasan with the organisation. This book showcases his contributions as a sportsman, an able sports administrator, a die-hard industrialist, a loveable family man and a noble philanthropist.
The book chronicles the remarkable journey of India Cements since 1946, the dynamic role played by its founder T S Narayanaswami in the industrial resurgence of free India, rich sporting tradition of the company by employing cricketers and supporting cricket and other sports, childhood days of Srinivasan and his days as tennis champion at the age of 16.
It speaks about his joining the company in 1968 at the age of 23, attempts on the takeover of company, his return in 1989, the series of takeovers and mergers he made, his steering industry and sports bodies, the triumphant journey from TNCA to ICC, birth of Chennai Super Kings and its success story and CSR activities of India Cements.
Under the leadership of N Srinivasan India Cements has grown from two plants with a capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in 1989 to 10 cement plants with a capacity of 15.55 MTPA.
Srinivasan along with his daughter and Wholetime Director Rupa Gurunath have transformed the company into one of the top 10 cement companies in the country. While retaining cement as its mainstay, India Cements has ventured into related fields like RMC plants, captive power, waste heat recovery system, wind power, shipping, sugar and coal mines in Indonesia.
A galaxy of cricketers including legendary captains of India from Chandu Borde to M S Dhoni including Kapil Dev, G R Vishwanath, Dilip Vengsarkar, K Srikkanth, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid will be attending the function this evening.
Veteran cricketers V V S Laxman, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Yashpal Sharma, Ajay Jadeja, Syed Kirmani, Javagal Srinath, Virender Sehwag, Brijesh Patel and Dinesh Karthik will be present along with the past and present Tamilnadu cricketers going as far back as the ‘60s like P K Belliappa and K R Rajagopal. CSK players Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh make up the list of celebs attending the function.