Former Chief Executive Officer of PSG Institutions and former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region, C.R. Swaminathan, died in Coimbatore on December 14. He was 74 and is survived by his wife.
Swaminathan, a B.Sc Agriculture graduate from Bapla Agricultural College and MBA at PSG Institutions, joined PSG Industrial Institute as Assistant Sales Manager - Marketing in 1971 and was appointed CEO of the Institutions in 1985, a post he held till 2005.
L. Gopalakrishnan, Managing Trustee of PSG & Sons’ Charities, said Mr. Swaminathan also worked for the progress of education sector in Coimbatore. With his executive participation in all the major industrial associations, he spearheaded their common cause when he was working in the PSG Industrial Institute.
He was part of voluntary and social organisations in Coimbatore. He had headed the CII in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu and Southern Region, was an independent director in many companies, and governing council member of numerous educational institutions.
C. K. Ranganathan, chairman, CII Southern Region said, “Mr. Swaminathan was a visionary leader and had contributed immensely for the industrial development in South India, and more particularly in Tamil Nadu.”
S. Chandrakumar, chairman, CII Tamil Nadu, said he was a proactive leader in industry and academia.
CII Coimbatore zone chairman V. Arjun Prakash said Mr. Swaminathan was a mentor to many in a number of CII’s path breaking initiatives.
He had served as president of the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association (SIEMA), Coimbatore Management Association, and Coimbatore Industrial Infrastructure Association (COINDIA). He had been the president of Institute of Indian Foundrymen and Indian Machine Tools Manufacturing Association.
According to KV Karthik, president of SIEMA, Mr. Swaminathan played a key role in the formation of COINDIA and was even recently ready to guide the pumpset industry on raw material sourcing as he had done for foundries through the Foundry Development Foundation.
Mahendra Ramdass, former president of COINDIA, said Mr. Swaminathan had facilitated and worked for development of many infrastructure projects in Coimbatore.
Vanitha Mohan, managing trustee of Siruthuli, said for conservation of water bodies or afforestation projects, Mr. Swaminathan, a trustee, guided them on the right people to approach and permissions to be taken.
