Thiruvananthapuram: Dr. M. Ayyappan, chairman and managing director of HLL Lifecare, stepped down on Tuesday after making it a successful PSU with a turnover of Rs 1,678 crore. When he took over as its CMD in 2003, it had a turnover of just Rs 141 crore. The total worth or the business potential of the company evaluated by Ernst and Young has come to Rs 4, 75,000 crore now.
The mini-ratna PSU looks at hitting the Rs 10,000-crore mark by 2020, much to the credit of Dr. Ayyappan. He recalled that the interview panel had asked him when he sought the appointment as its managing director 13 years ago, “what is your aim?” Without batting an eyelid, Dr Ayyappan, then 46, said, “to boost the company’s annual turnover from (then) Rs 141 crore to Rs 1,000 crore”.
HLL sources told DC that initially the company was known as a mere contraceptive manufacturing company as those days their prestige product was ‘Nirodh.’ But once Dr Ayyappan came to the helm of HLL, there was no looking back and today there are seven companies under HLL and another two on the anvil from Gujarat.
“It has been a gratifying experience. Today HLL and its subsidiaries are worth an estimated Rs 4,75,000 crore. HLL can increase its worth to Rs 10,000 crore in four-and-a-half years and generate jobs running into lakhs,” said Dr Ayyappan.
Dr Ayyappan can be credited with turning a central public sector enterprise into an efficient global corporate company. He joined the then Hindustan Latex Ltd. in 1991 armed with 12 years of experience in marketing. He took charge as the MD of HLL in 2002-2003 and was promoted as its chairman and managing director in 2005. Under his stewardship in 2010, the company realised its revenue target of '1,000 crore.
