M. M. Murugappan and Family

The Murugappa Group is 120 years old. Its leadership rotates. That is not a coincidence.

The group has operated for over 120 years across a range of businesses that have little in common by product but a great deal in common by character. Tube Investments of India, the engineering flagship, is a market leader in precision steel tubes and automotive chains. Coromandel International is one of India's largest suppliers of fertilisers and crop protection products. EID Parry holds a significant position in sugar. These are not glamorous sectors, but they are ones where operational consistency and supply chain depth matter more than brand, and the family has built lasting positions in each.

What distinguishes the group's governance is a formal rotation system in which leadership passes among family members according to an agreed structure, with professional management running day-to-day operations. This arrangement has kept individual branches of a large and complex family from competing over control while maintaining accountability at the business level. The group's longevity across changing economic conditions is partly a function of the sectors it chose and partly a function of how it chose to govern itself.