Former CEO N Srinivasan pens book on CG Power’s corporate turnaround

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) Touted as one of the significant chapters in India’s corporate history, CG Power’s comeback from bankruptcy to a USD 10 billion company is now chronicled in the new book “The Great Revival" by its former MD & CEO Natarajan Srinivasan.

Published by Penguin Random House India (PRHI), the book, which was launched in Mumbai recently by Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, documents one of India’s most closely watched corporate comebacks -- "how an 80-year-old engineering institution steadied itself after an exceptionally challenging period in 2019 and rebuilt into a USD 10 billion enterprise".

"I wrote this book to honour a company that stood on the edge and rebuilt itself with discipline and integrity. 'The Great Revival' is a story of trust regained -- in financial accuracy, in transparency and in the collective will of the people who stayed the course.

“As the company now looks ahead to its next phase of strategic growth and long-term value creation, this journey serves as a record of how far CG Power has come — and where it is poised to go next. CG Power now stands at a juncture where the growth achieved over the last 75 years can be achieved again in just the next five years," said the author.

The book’s opening chapters describe Srinivasan’s first days at the company as stepping onto a “turning wicket", where every assumption had to be tested. He also notes that the early effort was not about dramatic announcements but about “quiet changes that compound when repeated every day”.

According to the publishers, “The Great Revival", written in simple, reflective style, details how the company reconstructed five years of accounts, undertook a complex debt restructuring with fourteen banks, and rebuilt credibility with regulators, lenders and markets -- foundational steps that allowed CG Power to recover and move forward.

For the unversed, CG Power had total debt of Rs 2,161 crore, out of which a consortium of 14 banks have taken a haircut of Rs 1,100 crore and restructured the remaining.

"The book focuses not just on the crisis, but on the clarity, discipline and cultural shifts that enabled the recovery," they added.

Srinivasan, 61, began his career of over 40 years with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and joined the Murugappa Group in 2004. He held several senior positions across the Group, including director of the Murugappa Corporate Board, group finance director, executive vice chairman and managing director of Cholamandalam Investments and Finance Company.

In 2020, he was appointed MD and CEO of CG Power where he played a pivotal role in its successful turnaround.

The book, priced at Rs. 799, is available for purchase across online and offline stores. PTI MG RB RB