It was felicitation time at Sanmar when two veterans of the Group retired during 2013.
S Gopal, Managing Director of Chemplast, laid down office on 31 March 2013. From being a Senior VP Projects in 1991 to becoming the Managing Director of Chemplast in 2007, which position he retained till the date of his retirement in March 2013, Gopal's was an eventful two-decade stint at the Chemical and Engineering businesses of the Group. A specialist in water management, Gopal made key contibutions to ensuring that all Chemplast plants boast the 'zero liquid discharge' facility.
An Electronics Engineer from IIT Madras and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, Gopal is also the regional chairman of the South Indian Chemical Council and past president of Madras Management Association.
A BTech (Chem) IIT Kanpur and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, JK Menon joined The Sanmar Group way back in 1990 as GM Solvents and was later transferred to PVC in 1995. After a hiatus, he rejoined Sanmar in TCI Sanmar in 2007. JKM took over as Director of Trubore Piping Systems in 2011 from which position he retired in January 2013.
Pioneers of green field projects, both Gopal and JKM have steered the businesses through crucial times. Both S Gopal and JK Menon received 'Lifetime Awards' during their tenure with the Group.
Extracts from N Sankar's speech during the Lifetime Award ceremony at The Sanmar Group Annual Day function:
"S Gopal, Managing Director, Chemplast is a long-term Sanmarite. He had an initial stint with Sanmar in
1991-92, when he worked with the Group evaluating different projects.
Managing Chemplast's chemical businesses is a true rollercoaster ride. There is never a dull moment. It's either prices collapsing or rocketing upwards, prices of raw materials fluctuating daily, it's a business where prices are determined by sentiments and calls on whether the housing market in the US is good, whether the Chinese weather is good or bad, whether the Rupee will appreciate or depreciate, whether the Government will stand or fall etc., etc. To cope with all these variables and run business successfully calls for enormous analytical input, and great fortitude. Gopal possesses both of these in significant measures."
"We were lucky to have a person of JK's capability at TCI Sanmar, Port Said, Egypt. Both in terms of commercial management of TCI Sanmar's affairs and its projects, and in terms of building bridges with the local community and with the authorities in Egypt, JK performed exemplarily.
We have employed and re-employed people in Sanmar on a few occasions, but I do not think there was anyone else who was appointed four times. It speaks much for the person's capability that we were willing to recall him thrice. And it speaks for his character and commitment to Sanmar that he would accept each time willingly, and as I said with a smile."