Saint-Gobain India Chairman B Santhanam to Retire in May

Chennai, Feb 26 (PTI) CEO of Saint-Gobain Asia Pacific and Chairman of Saint-Gobain India, B Santhanam is all set to retire in May this year after serving the French conglomerate for over four decades.

Santhanam, a well-known industrialist among the Tamil Nadu business circles, said he would be retiring from service on May 5, 2025.

In a social media post, he announced that he would be hanging up his boots after a 45-year career with the Saint-Gobain Group.

"I am filled with a sense of gratitude to my colleagues, on whose shoulders I have grown; my sponsors, who have nurtured me; the SG (Saint-Gobain) group, which gave me a platform of trust, empowerment, and collaboration to express myself; my school, college, IIT-M, and IIM-A, which shaped my character and expanded my mind; the industry, which helped me make a difference; my nation, which enabled me to bring my best every day to play a modest role in its growth; my friends and classmates, who have always been present to support, cherish, and applaud my development; and most importantly, my family, who have been a bedrock of encouragement," he said in the post.

"Leveraging the personal and professional networks that I have, I look forward to playing an active role in India's journey towards becoming a developed country. Best, Santhanam", he added.

In January 2024, Saint-Gobain under his leadership signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tamil Nadu government in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin during the Global Investors Meet, 2024.

The MoU entails a series of green and brownfield investments in several manufacturing sectors in Tamil Nadu taking Saint-Gobain India's total investment in the state to over Rs 8,000 crore.

The investment also includes setting up a proposed Saint-Gobain complex to come up on a 122-acre land in neighbouring Oragadam at an outlay of Rs 3,400 crore for which Stalin took part in the groundbreaking ceremony in August 2024.

The complex would feature manufacturing facilities across different Saint-Gobain businesses including glass wool, gypsum plasterboards, plasters, acoustic ceilings, float glass, and solar glass among others. It would create over 1,100 jobs in the region.

Saint-Gobain has over 1.60 lakh employees, globally and has a presence in 76 countries.