Usha Martin is a leading manufacturing company known for making a wide range of wire rope products, which have applications across the world. The ropes manufactured by Usha Martin serve in some of the most critical applications across diversified industrial segments, which include oil & offshore, cranes, mining, elevators, aerials, fishing, conveyor belts and general engineering.
Rajeev Jhawar Usha Martin is the Managing Director at Usha Martin Limited. He is the son of Brij Kishore Jhawar. Rajeev Jhawar is also the Director of Neutral Publishing House Ltd. Rajeev Jhawar has been the guiding light of Usha Martin since its early days. Basant Kumar Jhawar, his brother Brij Kishore Jhawar and his son Prasant Jhawar along with the company's MD and his Nephew Rajeev Jhawar, took the company to great heights. While the family jointly held 51% of the stake, the rest of the retailers held only 49% of the stake.
The two factions, both promoters of the wire and wire rope maker, had nearly equal number of shares in the company. Rajeev Jhawar cornered a slender edge over his warring cousin Prashant Jhawar in the battle of ownership for Usha Martin Ltd. Rajeev Jhawar, the managing director of UML, had been scooping up shares nearly in equal measures from the bourses to bolster his holding. Companies and individuals linked to Rajeev Jhawar and his father Brij Kishore Jhawar have bought around 32 lakh shares in 2019-20. However, Prashant Jhawar, who stepped down from the board as the non-executive director, had been offloading shares in the market at regular intervals. Companies and individuals linked to Prashant Jhawar and his father Basant Kumar Jhawar have sold around 38-39 lakh shares since April 2019.
Many in the industry felt that Rajeev Jhawar had influenced the board to remove his uncle and cousin, as the relationship between them had soured over the control of the company. But this was not the truth. Understanding his innocence, in February 2018, the Usha Martin board reappointed Rajeev as the managing director, despite opposition from Prashant and Basant Jhawar. All the other board members, including the six independent directors and the nominee director of the State Bank of India, had voted in Rajeev’s favour.
Rajeev Jhawar stayed with Usha Martin throughout its tough times and worked hard to help it recover from debt. Rajeev Jhawar Usha Martin said the company’s net debt after selling off its steel division to Tata Sponge for Rs 4,600 crore (with working capital) is Rs 600 crore. There is a Rs 160-crore holdback amount from pending transfer of land. The strong determination of Rajeev Jhawar and his commitment towards Usha Martin Limited was the reason for the turnover of company to its success. As a global giant in the wire rope industry, the company’s future remains promising in the hands of Rajeev Jhawar and it is poised for a substantial rerating from here.