Xerxes Desai | |
---|---|
Born | 1937 |
Died | (aged 78–79) | 27 June 2016
Alma mater | Elphinstone College Oxford University |
Spouse | Rajni Desai [1] |
Xerxes Desai was the first managing director of Titan Company, an Indian watchmaking company, and played an instrumental role in laying the foundation of the company. [2]
Desai was a graduate of Elphinstone College (Mumbai University) and Oxford University. [3]
Desai joined Tata Administrative Services in 1961 after graduation, working at several of their companies. [4] He founded Titan as a joint venture with J. R. D. Tata in 1986, with support from the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation. [5] He had suggested the idea of a watchmaking company to Tata in the 1970s, who liked it, but bureaucratic hassles took time till the company was opened in 1986 in Hosur. [6] [7] [8]
In 1994, Desai challenged engineers at Titan to design the world's thinnest watch, with a movement 1.15mm thick inside a 3.5mm case. [9] The watch, called the Titan Edge was introduced in 2002. [10]
After Titan's success, Desai founded Tanishq, a jewelry brand. He had innovative ideas like asking people in Bangalore to get their jewelry appraised in 1999. The jewelry business grew over time, after a slow start. [11]
Desai retired in 2002, and was succeeded by his protégé Bhaskar Bhat. [12]
Desai was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award by the National Institute of Design during its 4th Design Excellence Awards in 2006. [13]
Post retirement, Desai was a part of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) initiative by Nandan Nilekani. [14]
Desai died from illness in Bangalore, where he had lived for 30 years, on 27 June 2016, at the age of 79. [15]
Nandan Mohanrao Nilekani is an Indian entrepreneur. He co-founded Infosys and is the non-executive chairman of Infosys replacing R Seshasayee and Ravi Venkatesan, who were the co-chairs of the board, on 24 August 2017. After the exit of Vishal Sikka, Nilekani was appointed as non-executive chairman of the board effective 24 August 2017. He was the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). After a successful career at Infosys, he headed the Government of India's technology committee, TAGUP. He is a member of Indian National Congress but not active in politics as of 2019.
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Titan Company Limited is an Indian company that mainly manufactures fashion accessories such as jewellery, watches and eyewear. Part of the Tata Group and started as a joint venture with TIDCO, the company has its corporate headquarters in Electronic City, Bangalore, and registered office in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.
HMT Limited, formerly Hindustan Machine Tools Limited, is an Indian state-owned manufacturing company under the control of the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India. It was founded in 1953 as a machine tool manufacturing company, diversifying into watches, tractors, printing machinery, metal forming presses, die casting and plastic processing machinery, and CNC systems and bearings. HMT is headquartered at Bangalore.
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