Chennai, May 1 (PTI) Eminent personalities from different walks of life paid homage to veteran industrialist and Chairman of Sanmar Group, N Sankar, who died here recently. The homage meet was organised by Sanmar group on Sunday.
In a video message, HDFC Ltd chairman Deepak Parekh described Sankar as a ‘rare breed’ of his kind and said despite the loss of this “edifice”, Sanmar Group would always have Sankar’s great ‘perseverance’, ‘values’ and ‘vision’ printed on it.
Sankar, 77, died on April 17 following a brief illness in Chennai. He is survived by wife, son and a daughter.
Canadian billionaire and The Fairfax Financial Holdings Group chairman Prem Watsa recalled that Sankar created the Sanmar Group from scratch.
“I met Sankar when we (Fairfax Financial) made investment of USD 3 million in Sanmar (Group). The Sanmar Group, which Sankar created from the scratch operated with a higher integrity.
Sankar and his son Vijay (Sankar), Deputy Chairman, have entrepreneurial success in building a company which has USD 2 billion market cap,” he said in a video message.
Remembering Sankar fondly, Former Ashok Leyland executive vice chairman R Seshasayee said he was an ‘extra ordinary’ person.
“He (Sankar) was a generous donor,” Seshasayee said recalling an incident when he had served in the board of Cancer Institute, Adyar and sought funding from Sankar for developing a block that required reconstruction.
At the meet, Tennis legend and Tamil Nadu Tennis Association president Vijay Amritraj said Sankar was a person with ‘grace’ and ‘elegance’.
“The way he (Sankar) played the game of tennis was majestic. He was very special everywhere. Sankar brought beauty to the game, I think when you watch someone like Sankar strike the ball, needless to say, it was something that he wanted to play with elegance”, he said.
Legendary cricketer Kapil Dev condoled Sankar’s demise and said, “There was not one cricketer who is not gone by his (Sankar) kindness. He looked after many many cricketers. It is easy to say (that he took care of them), but it is very difficult to do it..” Making an appeal to Sankar’s family, he said, “The responsibility of carrying forward his (Sankar) legacy should not go waste. Keep up the same spirit (of Sankar). Let the legacy (left behind by Sankar) not stop here.” Vijay Sankar is deputy chairman of The Sanmar Group, while N Kumar, brother of Sankar is the vice-chairman. PTI VIJ ROH ROH