Inner Conflicts

Was a family of repute with control over two large integrated steel units. Vinay Rai was even ranked in the Forbes magazine list of richest people in the world. The group was clearly on a roll with the sky as the limit to its growing ambitions.

The group has now pulled out of several ventures like motorcycles, earth-moving equipment and harvesters. It wasn’t able to roll out telecom services as envisaged and remains a marginal player. Even in tractors, its mainstay, Escorts trails behind market leaders like M&M and Punjab Tractors. Indeed, it’s a group that’s stagnating. So it was inevitable that younger brother Anil would take on Rajan to grab whatever share he could of the Escorts pie. And that’s exactly what has happened.

All the manufacturing units have been closed down; the empire has vanished. As the two brothers, Vinay and Anil, blamed each other for the mess, they decided to part ways. Both are now trying to make a name in the same business, education. A clear case of post-liberalisation blues.

Was a monopolistic leader in the scooter segment. It was known as a family that stuck together for nearly three generations with Rahul Bajaj as the undisputed head for long. The Bajaj brand was even recognised globally.

Its marketshare in the two-wheeler segment has dwindled and, today, rival Hero Honda is the biggest player. The only new investments by the group have been in insurance and wind energy. So it was only a matter of time before younger brother Shishir demanded control over some group firms.