THE AMBANI SIBLINGS
(children of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani)
In 1931, when the British still ruled the subcontinent, Jamnalal Bajaj established India’s first sugar mill—Hindusthan Sugar Mills, the entity that would evolve into Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar. Over decades, the group expanded into energy and consumer care, becoming a household name with brands such as Bajaj Almond Drops Hair Oil.
Now, nine decades later, history is being made again at the company. Anandamayi Bajaj, the fifth-generation scion of the founder, has joined the business. She is the first woman in the family to step into the Bajaj Group’s operational fold.
The 22-year-old graduate in Financial Economics and Mathematics from Columbia University is currently on the ground, travelling across the group’s sugar factories in Uttar Pradesh. For now, she is working closely with the leadership teams of Bajaj Energy, Bajaj Consumer and Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar to master the nitty-gritty of the business. “I recognise that I am stepping into a space built by generations of hard work, and I feel responsible for carrying that legacy forward in a meaningful way,” said Anandamayi.
Her entry marks a cultural shift in a group with roots in a traditional Marwari family. Kushagra Bajaj, chairman of the group and Anandamayi’s father, insists that the old ways are gone. “In earlier times, the girl wouldn’t get anything or get only a little bit. The business would have to be taken care of by the boys,” Kushagra said. “That differentiation, at least in my eyes, is no longer there. It has to work on meritocracy, on capability. If she has fire in her belly, why not give her a chance?”
Anandamayi is aware that her every move will be watched. “Even though I feel supported and included, I know I must prove myself through results, effort and continuous learning,” she said. “I want to demonstrate that opportunity and responsibility must go hand-in-hand, especially in a family-led business.”
Her goal is to blend agility with the group’s deep-seated values. “I am understanding our businesses deeply, from grassroots operations to boardroom decision-making. I am identifying opportunities for modernisation, whether in technology adoption, consumer engagement or operational efficiency. I am exploring new business avenues that strengthen India’s economic future where technology, sustainability, and evolving consumer aspirations intersect,” she said.
Kushagra describes his daughter as a patient listener who grasps concepts quickly, and someone who does not lose her cool. Anandamayi’s vision is clear. “I want to lead with a style that balances speed with stability, innovation with integrity, and risk-taking with accountability,” she said. “I want to build businesses that contribute meaningfully to the nation, especially in future-ready industries.”
While Anandamayi learns the ropes, another scion is already redirecting a legacy giant. Avantika Saraogi is driving Balrampur Chini Mills. the second-largest sugar manufacturer in India, towards a sustainable future. The spark was lit when Avantika, daughter of Vivek Saraogi, chairman and MD of the company, saw a PET-like bottle printed with the words “made from sugarcane”. It was a revelation: a familiar crop could become a future-ready material. This insight led to the creation of Balrampur Bioyug.
“Balrampur may be a leading sugar company, but I felt our next growth engine had to create value beyond the traditional sugar cycle,” she said.
The company is investing Rs2,850 crore to set up an 80,000-tonnes-per-annum Polylactic Acid (PLA) manufacturing facility near its Kumbhi sugar factory. Expected to be completed by mid-2026, it will be India’s first industrial-scale bioplastics plant. “Our plan for Balrampur Bioyug is to scale PLA as a viable, domestic alternative to single-use plastic, because India’s plastic challenge needs urgent and scalable solutions,” said Avantika.
Convincing the family to undertake such a big transition required a solid case. “I showed how we could leverage our existing strengths in sugarcane processing by deriving yet another high-value product from the same sugarcane stick; we could enhance overall utility, improve financial returns, and deliver greater value to our farmer community,” she said.
Across the corporate landscape, the quarter-century of economic growth has necessitated a new breed of leadership. “The past quarter-century has witnessed unprecedented economic growth that required several more business leaders in these families,” said Kavil Ramachandran, professor and senior adviser at the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise, ISB.
A prime example is the transition at Piramal Group. In September, Ajay Piramal paved the way for his son Anand to take charge as chairman of Piramal Finance. While Ajay built his fortune in pharmaceuticals, Anand is carving his niche in financial services.
Since joining in 2019, Anand has led Piramal Finance’s Rs34,250 crore acquisition of DHFL—the largest resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code—and pivoted the company from wholesale real estate lending to a retail-focused powerhouse. “In the last five-six years, we have created a business with 16,000 employees, 520 branches, Rs75,000 crore in terms of loan disbursements, and it has been the fastest growing large retail NBFC in the country,” said Anand.
Anand’s philosophy is rooted in democratisation. He recalls a sari shop owner near Bengaluru who was denied a loan by others because his house fell between municipal limits. Piramal Finance stepped in, and the business thrived.
“Profit is like oxygen of growth. But, just like the purpose of a human being is not just to inhale the oxygen, but to make a difference, the purpose of a business is not just to make money, but do something bigger,” Anand reflected. “Today, 80 million Indians have small businesses and only 10-15 per cent have access to modern finance. We would like to give this same opportunity to small business owners across the country.”
Simultaneously, the pharmaceutical vertical is being shepherded by Ajay’s daughter Nandini, who is chairperson of Piramal Pharma. She is targeting ambitious growth. “Our FY2030 aspiration is to become a $2 billion revenue company with a 25 per cent EBITDA margin,” she said.
The most visible shift in India Inc. is perhaps occurring within Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance empire. Mukesh’s daughter Isha (Anand Piramal’s wife), along with her brothers Akash and Anant, has taken centrestage at Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India’s largest company.
Isha runs Reliance Retail, India’s largest network with over 19,340 stores. She is now taking the fight to FMCG giants like Hindustan Unilever and Nestle through Reliance Consumer Products. “We know the Indian consumer better than anyone. Our unmatched insights are drawn from scientific data mining—from billions of real transactions, across every state, every income segment and every lifestyle pattern,” said Isha. “India’s consumer market is a $2 trillion high-growth opportunity. For the first time, rural markets, consisting of 900 million consumers, are driving 65 per cent of the FMCG growth.”
Mukesh, speaking at the Reliance AGM, endorsed the trio’s readiness. “Fully embedded in operations and decision-making, they are shaping our businesses with energy, conviction, and clarity of purpose,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tata Group is witnessing its own subtle succession. Neville Tata, the 32-year-old son of the group’s chair Noel Tata, was recently inducted into the board of Sir Dorabji Tata Trusts. Neville has proved his mettle in the retail trenches with Trent, specifically with the spectacular success of Zudio.
With a model akin to a ‘budget Zara’, Zudio has revolutionised Indian fast fashion. Its revenues top $1 billion and it has around 800 stores. Neville’s leadership has helped Trent capture the aspirational, price-conscious youth market.
In Kolkata, Shashwat Goenka, scion of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, is balancing heritage with reinvention. Having taken charge of Spencer’s Retail at just 23, he is now vice-chairman of the group, driving a massive push into renewable energy and FMCG. “Our business, over 220 years, has been a journey of constant reinvention,” he said. “It is really about reinventing yourself literally on an annual basis.”
The group is pivoting CESC, its power utility, towards green energy. By FY2029, it aims to set up 3,200 MW of hybrid renewable capacity.
Shashwat is also sharpening the focus on the retail front. Unlike Reliance’s pan-India blitz, he is doubling down on regional strongholds for Spencer’s and expanding the gourmet chain Nature’s Basket and the snacking brand Too Yumm. “It’s a multi-pronged strategy,” he said. “We are betting on different sectors of consumption.”
The young leaders are far more tuned into technology and comfortable in the use of it than their predecessors, said Sonu Bhasin, family business historian. “This knowledge of the use of technology will go a long way in the inheritors being successful,” she said. “The challenges will, however, emerge from the lack of experience, for which they can lean on the old experienced hands in the business.”
But, the path for these inheritors is also paved with challenges that their predecessors never faced.
“Turbulence in all the various components of the external environment has made it more challenging for any business to develop a strategy,” said Ramachandran. “With greater staff turnover and the disappearance of loyalty to any organisation, business management is becoming further challenging.”
And succession is not just inheritance, it is more about preparation. “The way you reduce risk of the company for the shareholders is by appointing the right successors and preparing them to be able to take over,” said Nirmalya Kumar, Lee Kong Chian Professor of Marketing at Singapore Management University.
He noted a shift in management dynamics. “Internal loyalties shift once kids take over,” he said. “There will be managers or senior executives who are aligned to a way of working when the father is around. The sons or daughters may come with different ideas.”
Interestingly, not every scion chooses the operational route. Rishabh Mariwala, son of Marico chairman Harsh Mariwala, founded Sharrp Ventures. “I grew up assuming I would join my father’s business, until I realised I wanted a life with more autonomy and pace,” said Rishabh. He stepped aside, allowing CEO Saugata Gupta to lead Marico, and focused on investing in startups like Nykaa and Mamaearth.
“I took the leap and became an entrepreneur, joining my mother who had a hobby of soap making,” said Rishabh. In 2015, he started his own brand, but sold that just before the 2020 Covid pandemic to focus completely on investing. “Those early years shaped everything I know about resilience, uncertainty and the quiet realities of building from scratch,” he said.
Whether they are building bioplastic plants, democratising finance, or investing in the next unicorn, India’s next-gen leaders are united by a common thread. As Kushagra Bajaj put it, success ultimately comes down to the grind: “For the new and interesting things to happen, you have to go to office and do the boring stuff for 330 days.”