T.S. Santhanam, founder and chairman of Chennai based Sundaram Finance passed away at age 92.

The last son of the legendary T.V. Sundaram Iyengar, Santhanam is considered to be the father of truck finance industry in India. Santhanam practiced corporate governance long before it came to be accepted in India.

Born on November 8, 1912, Santhanam had his education in Madurai. In 1930 he joined his father in business, and thus began a lifetime involvement in automobile and finance.

He moved to Chennai, formerly Madras in 1936, and served the parent company, T.V. Sundaram Iyengar & Sons, in various capacities, gaining rich experience in road transport, marketing automobiles, manufacturing automobile components, general insurance, banking and finance.

In 1954, he founded Sundaram Finance, which together with its subsidiaries today is valued to have an asset base of Rs. 6000 crore ($1.2 billion).

He played a crucial role in establishing several auto component units for the TVS Group, prominent among which are Wheels India, Brakes India, Sundaram Clayton and Lucas-TVS. Not just that, the Southern state of Tamil Nadu earned the reputation as Detroit of India largely due to the impetus the clutch of TVS group of companies provided under his baton.

Santhanam was not only deeply involved in negotiations with foreign collaborators for the manufacture of quality auto components, but also in financial planning and project financing. His financial acumen was regarded highly, not just by the TVS group, but outside as well. He served on the government’s Direct Taxes Advisory Committee and the study group on Road Transport Financing among others.

He also promoted Madras Motor General Insurance Company, which later merged with United India Insurance Company.