C K Birla steps down as chairman of Hindustan Motors

C K Birla has stepped down as the chairman of the board of Hindustan Motors Ltd and also decided to relinquish directorship of the ailing automobile firm.

While Birla did not reply to reporters' queries after the company's AGM (annual general meeting), the company's Managing Director and CEO Uttam Bose said that it was becoming very difficult for the company to manage daily operations due to poor cash flow.

Today's decision reflected Birla's thinking that his stepping down would pave the way for the entry of strategic investors and allow for greater flexibility during discussions, the company said in a statement.

Bose had said the company needed to restructure the business by demerging the Chennai and Uttarpara operations. During the 18-month period under review ending September 2013, HM incurred a loss of Rs.71.20 crore compared with a loss of Rs.29.96 crore in FY2011-12.

The company’s accumulated losses have exceeded its net worth at the completion of the extended financial year ended September 2013. Birla was appointed chairman of HM in November 1997.

Family Tree of Birla leading India.

Explored a bit more about the family generation responsible for Birlas to emerge as an eminent business class in India. 

The Birla family is a family of repute and standing in the industrial and social history of India. Shiv Narain Birla, a member of the Marwari Maheshwari community from Pilani in the westerly state of Rajasthan, traded in cotton and laid the foundation of the family's future business success by establishing a trading house in Bombay around 1857. He moved to Bombay around 1857 to establish a trading house. His son, Baldeo Das Birla moved to Calcutta in 1861 to set up his own business.