Manikam Ramaswami, 63, chairman and managing director of Loyal Textile Mills, passed away in Chennai on Monday.
Sources said Ramaswami had collapsed after being administered anaesthesia for a dental procedure and was taken to a private hospital in Adyar where doctors declared him dead. His Loyal Group includes ‘P.Orr & Sons’, a popular watch dealing and servicing company.
Mr. Manikam was also passionate about education — he was the correspondent of the Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai and Thiagarajar Model Higher Secondary School, as well as the secretary at the Thiagarajar College of Preceptors. Mr. Ramaswami was the past chairman of TEXPROCIL, the association for cotton textiles exports promotion. He was the Honorary Consul for Chennai, The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
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“He was an extremely dynamic personality and an industrialist who demonstrated great leadership to many textile units in Southern India,” said Karumuttu T. Kannan, chairman of Thiagarajar Mills, Madurai. He had worked closely with the government for the introduction of the Technology Upgradation Fund scheme, modular drawback system and the CENVAT route for the textile industry.
As chairman at TEXPROCIL, he had taken several efforts to boost yarn exports. “This is a big loss to the textile industry. We have lost a captain,” said Southern India Mills’ Assocation (SIMA) chairman P. Nataraj.
He joined Loyal Textile Mills, his family business, full time in 1976. The company’s revenues have risen to ₹200-plus crore from ₹2.5 crore in 1975, said a statement from his office.
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The industrialist is survived by wife Valli Manikam Ramaswami and daughter Vishala Ramaswami. A mechanical engineer from IIT Madras, he was awarded the Banco Foundation Gold Medal. As part of his college project, he received a patent for an oscillating piston internal combustion engine, the statement said. He has also served as chairman for SIMA. Mr. Manikam also played a key role in the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He was the past chairman of CII Tamil Nadu State Council.