Cumi''s golden run

15 September 2004

As a student, forty eight year old chairman of Carborundum Universal was a sprint champion. Venkatachari Jagannathan relates how MM Murugappan is still a champion

At Lawrence School, Lovedale, Ooty he was a sprint champion. He used to fly out like an arrow from a bow to finish ahead of others, recalls one of his schoolmates.

That sprinter boy MM Murugappan is the forty eight year old chairman of the Rs314 crore turnover Carborundum Universal Limited. And it goes without saying that the company - also known as Cumi- is far ahead of the others in the race for leadership in the Rs650 crore domestic abrasive industry.

The Indian abrasive industry has only two big players — Carborundum Universal, Grindwell Norton Limited (turnover Rs254.5 crore). Smaller players service nearly thirty per cent of the market and imports account for around Rs72 crore.

"All these years we have been quietly successful and have consolidated our operations. Today the business is poised in an interesting fashion. And now it is time to expand beyond our shores," remarks Murugappan.

Carborundum Universal is in three business segments viz abrasives, bonded and coated; ceramics, industrial and super refractories and electrominerals, raw materials for the abrasives.