Anil Manibhai Naik (A M Naik), Chairman of Larsen & Toubro, was greeted by shareholders with bouquets, retirement cards and salutations as he addressed his last Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Mumbai on Wednesday

Shareholders fondly recalled Naik’s humility, and humour during the AGM interactions and urged him to continue attending the annual meetings of the company. 

Blueprint of transformation has taken place ever since Naik joined L&T, he created a vision statement and defined “global benchmarking” for the company, they said.

Further, the shareholders pointed out the challenges Naik faced during his tenure and how he expanded Larsen & Toubro (L&T) domestically and internationally. 

Down memory lane

“I first visited the L&T office in 1962, when it was manufacturing coco-cola bottles which was considered big as it was not easily available and from there, the company has branched out to this place. This is a result of your and L&T’s efforts. I appreciate you have made the company owned by professionals and not by individual private industrialists. You successfully managed to make sure that the company belongs to professionals of the country,” said a shareholder who got emotional during the AGM. 

Naik also showcased the first L&T flag in the AGM and handed the flag to SN Subrahmanyan who will take over as the chairman and managing director. 

The shareholders in the AGM also asked Naik to give a parting gift of a bonus to them. 

“I have been a shareholder for more than 35 years and with A M Naik at the top, people have to work. It was a good dividend of ₹30 and an additional ₹6 to mark the six decades of AM Naik. Instead of the buyback of ₹3,000 per share, my suggestion is to give a bonus. This would add to my kitty and my grandchildren would be happy as we would have created wealth for them. You have created a win-win proposition with LTTS and Mindtree,” stated another shareholder.