Core group to submit plan by Sept-end; formal division to begin with Sun Investments
The Rs 2700 crore O P Jindal group has initiated a move to split its assets among the four sons of the patriarch Prithviraj, Sajjan, Ratan and Navin Jindal.
Under the plan that is now being formalised to split the steel-to-power monolith the sixth largest industrial house in the country with total assets of Rs 7,000 crore eldest son Prithviraj Jindal (46) will look after SAW Pipes Ltd, the pipes and tubes division which clocked sales of Rs 501.40 crore during the year ended June 1996.
A core group of four key personnel has been appointed from the various Jindal group companies to deal with the division of the groups assets. The Group of Four, which has been at work since early May, has been asked to prepare the blueprint by the end of September.
The group includes Arvind Parakh, vice president (corporate finance) of JSL, who will represent Ratan Jindals interests; O N Gupta, company secretary and VP (finance) of SAW Pipes, who will look after the P R Jindals interests; A M Qureshi who represents Sajjan Jindal; and R C Garg who will look after Navin Jindals interests.
The need for dividing the assets among the brothers has arisen because the group has become geographically stretched putting an enormous strain on the current management. Moreover, OP Jindal, a Haryana Vikas Party MP, has withdrawn from day-to-day affairs of the group and is now devoting most of his time to politics.
Under the proposed arrangement, Sajjan Jindal (41) will assume charge of mild steelmaker Jindal Iron and Steel Co (JISCO), Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd (JVSL), an ambitious Rs 4000-crore project for making hot rolled coils, Jindal Tractebel, the 50:50 joint venture for power with Tractebel of Belgium, and Jindal Praxair, the joint venture for JVSLs oxygen plant in collaboration with US industrial gas major Praxair.
Ratan Jindal (38), now managing director of Jindal Strips Ltd, will have complete charge of JSL, the Rs 1000 crore-plus flagship company of the group which specialises in the manufacture of stainless steel strips. JSL is also the only manufacturer of razor blade steel in the country.
Jindal Stripss sponge iron division at Raigarh, which is managed by Navin Jindal (27), is proposed to be hived off as a separate company which will be either named Jindal Sponge Iron or Jindal Raigarh, with Navin Jindal assuming responsibility for its operations.
Navin Jindal will also have control of Jindal Power, the groups venture into power projects including the 1000 mw coal-based thermal power project with Genting of Malaysia.
Navin Jindal currently is in charge of the captive power plant at the Raigarh unit.
There is also a proposal to relocate Navin Jindal in Dubai where he will be responsible for raising offshore funds for the group.
The formal division of assets will begin with Sun Investments, which has an equity holding in most group ventures and in which all members of the OP Jindal family have a stake.
Sources say Sun Investments
