S. Gurumurthy
Encyclopedia
Swaminathan Gurumurthy is the co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, a journalist and a chartered accountant
in India
, and an RSS idealogue. He portrays himself as an economist with a right antidote for economic crisis caused due to Globalization
.
He is a strong proponent of the traditional Indian economic wisdom that was a part of every home and village model but he was also associated with some of the biggest corporate deals in India.
(formerly Madras). He had his schooling in a local school and higher education at the Vivekananda College, Chennai. Unable to realize his dreams to study law, he chose to become a Chartered Accountant. After completing the course in 1972, he joined an auditing firm and was allotted the job of maintaining the books of some of the companies of the press baron, Ramnath Goenka
. Impressed by this young accountant, in 1975, Goenka offered a job, which Gurumurthy declined. In 1976, he started his own firm, Guru & Varadhan, which was financially supported by the Goenka family. He was drawn into RSS since his college days and continues his affiliation with the organisation and has had an important role in many assignments. He is a leading member of the think-tank of Sangh Parivar.
and strongly believed Ambani's business practices were highly unhealthy for the nation. Goenka entrusted the job of fighting what he considered the Goliath of Reliance
with Gurumurthy. His articles in The Indian Express
created unusual stir in the corporate world, which brought lot of troubles to the conglomerate. All his articles were written based on extensive study and lot of pains he took to collect all pertinent data. The articles meticulously pointed out many of the irregularities in the Reliance Group of Companies . One of his articles, co-authored by Arun Shourie
claimed Reliance was operating an entire plant with the machines that were actually imported as spare parts,paying lower Customs Duty,and doubling its production.
Besides, he exposed how Pranab Mukerjee, the then Finance Minister of India helped Reliance against Bombay Dyeing through
differential taxation in textile industry. As a result Bombay Dyeing was almost decimated.
. Later many of his articles in The New Indian Express highlighted the disadvantages of globalization
. His articles espoused the cause of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the
concept of a united India.
and his younger brother Shishir who controls Bajaj Hindustan Ltd and has a stake in Bajaj Auto
and other group firms. However he has not voiced anything when the Reliance Empire got divided between the brothers in feud.
He also played a major role in the transfer of L&T's cement division to Aditya Birla Group
. In 2004 Gurumurthy also ended another corporate stalemate when he persuaded non-resident Indian investor C Sivasankaran
to divest his 33 per cent holding in the Tuticorin-based Tamilnad Mercantile Bank for Rs 130 crore (Rs 1.3 billion)
illegally deposited by indian politicians and businessmen in foreign banks. He has criticized the UPA government
for its alleged failure in recovering black money back to India.
Besides politics, he also enjoys considerable clout in corporate circles.
His role in on reliance issues adopted in cinema, R. Madhavan
played his role as Shyam Saxena in the movie Guru.
Chartered Accountant
Chartered Accountants were the first accountants to form a professional body, initially established in Britain in 1854. The Edinburgh Society of Accountants , the Glasgow Institute of Accountants and Actuaries and the Aberdeen Society of Accountants were each granted a royal charter almost from...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and an RSS idealogue. He portrays himself as an economist with a right antidote for economic crisis caused due to Globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
.
He is a strong proponent of the traditional Indian economic wisdom that was a part of every home and village model but he was also associated with some of the biggest corporate deals in India.
Early life and education
Gurumurthy was born in a small village, 160 kilometres South of ChennaiChennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
(formerly Madras). He had his schooling in a local school and higher education at the Vivekananda College, Chennai. Unable to realize his dreams to study law, he chose to become a Chartered Accountant. After completing the course in 1972, he joined an auditing firm and was allotted the job of maintaining the books of some of the companies of the press baron, Ramnath Goenka
Ramnath Goenka
Ramnath Goenka was a newspaper baron of India. He launched The Indian Express and created the Indian Express Group with various English and regional language publications...
. Impressed by this young accountant, in 1975, Goenka offered a job, which Gurumurthy declined. In 1976, he started his own firm, Guru & Varadhan, which was financially supported by the Goenka family. He was drawn into RSS since his college days and continues his affiliation with the organisation and has had an important role in many assignments. He is a leading member of the think-tank of Sangh Parivar.
War with Reliance
He was not happy with the aggressive empire building by Dhirubhai AmbaniDhirubhai Ambani
Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani also known as Dhirubhai, was an Indian-Gujarati business magnate and entrepreneur who founded Reliance Industries, a petrochemicals, communications, power, and textiles conglomerate and the only privately owned Indian company in the Fortune 500. Ambani took his company...
and strongly believed Ambani's business practices were highly unhealthy for the nation. Goenka entrusted the job of fighting what he considered the Goliath of Reliance
Reliance Industries
Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian conglomerate company headquartered at Mumbai, India. The company operates through three business segments: petrochemicals, refining, and oil and gas, other segment of the company includes textile, retail business, special economic zone development and...
with Gurumurthy. His articles in The Indian Express
The Indian Express
The Indian Express is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. It is published in Mumbai by Indian Express Group. After Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split in 1999 among his family members into two with the southern editions taking the name The New Indian Express, while the old...
created unusual stir in the corporate world, which brought lot of troubles to the conglomerate. All his articles were written based on extensive study and lot of pains he took to collect all pertinent data. The articles meticulously pointed out many of the irregularities in the Reliance Group of Companies . One of his articles, co-authored by Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie
Arun Shourie is an Indian journalist, author, intellectual and politician. He has been an economist with the World Bank , a consultant to the Planning Commission, India, editor of the Indian Express and Times of India and a minister in the government of India . He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay...
claimed Reliance was operating an entire plant with the machines that were actually imported as spare parts,paying lower Customs Duty,and doubling its production.
Besides, he exposed how Pranab Mukerjee, the then Finance Minister of India helped Reliance against Bombay Dyeing through
differential taxation in textile industry. As a result Bombay Dyeing was almost decimated.
Views
After this, Gurumurthy wrote on the Bofors issue and later regarding the Swadeshi MovementSwadeshi movement
The Swadeshi movement, part of the Indian independence movement, was an economic strategy aimed at removing the British Empire from power and improving economic conditions in India by following the principles of swadeshi , which had some success...
. Later many of his articles in The New Indian Express highlighted the disadvantages of globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
. His articles espoused the cause of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the
concept of a united India.
The Mole controversy
He came to the limelight again, when he publicly accused two of the then senior Indian bureaucrats of being American moles. He indirectly named them in the New Indian Express Article titled "US plots Gujral-Sharif show" dated 20-09-1997. Later, in his article "Not one mole, Mr prime Minister and Mr jaswant, but Two!" dated 27-07-2006,he explicitly named Dr. V S Arunachalam and Naresh Chandra Saxena as the two he identified as moles.Views on the Sankararaman murder case
Later he wrote extensively on the infamous Sankararaman murder case, in which Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Mutt was the prime suspect.Corporate roles
Gurumurthy is known to have played a pivotal mediating role to resolve the feud between Bajaj Auto Ltd Chairman Rahul BajajRahul Bajaj
Rahul Bajaj is an Indian businessman, politician and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Indian conglomerate Bajaj Group and member of parliament. Bajaj comes from the business house started by a Rajasthani Marwadi businessman Jamnalal Bajaj. The US$ 1.32 Billion Bajaj Auto is his flagship company...
and his younger brother Shishir who controls Bajaj Hindustan Ltd and has a stake in Bajaj Auto
Bajaj Auto
Bajaj Auto is a major Indian vehicle manufacturer started by Jamnalal Bajaj from Rajasthan in the 1930s. It is based in Pune, Maharashtra, with plants in Chakan , Waluj and Pantnagar in Uttaranchal. The oldest plant at Akurdi now houses the R&D centre Ahead...
and other group firms. However he has not voiced anything when the Reliance Empire got divided between the brothers in feud.
He also played a major role in the transfer of L&T's cement division to Aditya Birla Group
Aditya Birla Group
The Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Mumbai, India. It operates in 33 countries with more than 133,000 employees worldwide...
. In 2004 Gurumurthy also ended another corporate stalemate when he persuaded non-resident Indian investor C Sivasankaran
Sivasankaran
C. Sivasankaran is the Chairman of Siva Group , Siva Industries & Holdings Limited [ultimate holding company] and Siva Ventures Ltd. He has a net worth of more than $4 billion...
to divest his 33 per cent holding in the Tuticorin-based Tamilnad Mercantile Bank for Rs 130 crore (Rs 1.3 billion)
Black money row
He was the convenor of the task force conceived by the BJP to assess black moneyBlack Money
Black Money is a novel by US American mystery writer Ross Macdonald. Published in 1966, it is, according to Matthew Bruccoli and other critics, among the most powerful of all Ross Macdonald's novels...
illegally deposited by indian politicians and businessmen in foreign banks. He has criticized the UPA government
United Progressive Alliance
The United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...
for its alleged failure in recovering black money back to India.
Swadeshi Jagran Manch
He is a staunch proponent of the Swadeshi model of economic development and is a leading light of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), which is currently spearheading the agitation against the evils of modern economic policies.Besides politics, he also enjoys considerable clout in corporate circles.
His role in on reliance issues adopted in cinema, R. Madhavan
R. Madhavan
R. Madhavan is an Indian actor, writer, film producer and television host. Madhavan has received a Filmfare Award, an award from the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards alongside recognition and nominations from other organisations...
played his role as Shyam Saxena in the movie Guru.
External links
- indians-stashed-rs-688000-cr-illegally http://election.rediff.com/inter/2009/apr/20/loksabhapolls-in-five-years-indians-stashed-rs-688000-cr-illegally.htm
- Gurumurthy.net
- Transcript of the chat with S. Gurumurthy on Aug 15 1997: Rediff.com
- Ramnath Goenka's trusted advisor: A Photo
- Articles published in the Indian Express from Jan 10, 1997
- Speeches by S. Gurumurthy
- Interview to rediff on Solving TMB Tussle
- Interview with Mr. S. Gurumurthy in indiainteracts.com
- Audio of S. Gurumurthy on Indian Entrepreneurs (in Tamil), 7th July 2007
- Audio of S. Gurumurthy on Life after Marx and Markets (in English), 1st September 2007
- http://www.gurumurthy.net/indexing.pl?Politics