Arutchelvar Dr. N. Mahalingam - Founder
A legendary Gandhian by principle, a patriotic and proud son of the soil, Dr. N.Mahalingam is a man of pious living. His exemplary social contributions in numerous fields of socio-economic spectrum have benefitted scores of institutions and individuals inspired by him during his long career. The Government of India duly recognized his meritorious deeds and honored him with the prestigious Civilian Award - PADMA BHUSHAN. Dr N Mahalingam is also a recipient of many awards and titles conferred upon him by various educational, social and cultural institutions.

An agriculturist by birth he graduated to be an Engineer and Technologist. Through his persistent endeavor he rose to become a genius in planning and execution, eventually to be hailed as an Industrialist and Pioneer of modern sugar industry.

As an Industrialist he has held several important positions and has played major roles fostering the development of agricultural, industrial, human resource and institutional development at the State and National levels.

As a passionate author and a scholar he has rendered notable literary contributions. He has written many books in English and Tamil on the development of industries, education, agriculture, infrastructure and culture, often promoting communal harmony and poising them for enhancing people's standard of living.

These accolades are mere prelude to the philanthropist he is. His social and humanitarian considerations took his journey beyond the boundaries of industries and scholarly tenets he nurtured. Right from his young age, N M, as he is affectionately known to all, has been inspired by the life and aspirations of Mahatma Gandhiji and the Gandhian Movement and has been reflecting the ideals of Gandhian Philosophy by thought, word and action.

His work as a politician started in the 1950s, where he gave all his energy to the Congress Party. He worked hard and his achievement as a Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly was remarkable. He served 3 terms as MLA and served the society with sincerity and was remembered with great adulation by the people.

One of his greatest achievements as an ardent Gandhian, has been the republication of the most celebrated works of the Father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhiji in Tamil, which was originally published by Dr T S Avinashilingam, an associate of Mahatma Gandhi and Maulana Azad the first Education Minister of Independent Madras Province, about 50 years ago, in 17 volumes. Dr N M assigned this noble task to his associate Gandhians and with their dedicated contributions brought out the book in 20 volumes, adding three more volumes to the original publication and arranged for its distribution among schools and colleges in Tamilnadu.

Dr N Mahalingam's Socio-economic and literary contributions are numerous. His way of life, approach and execution are still inspiring our people, our institutions and of many others.

Dr. M. Manickam, Chairman and Managing Director

Dr. M. Manickam, the eldest son of Arutchelvar Dr N Mahalingam, has been instrumental in the extensive growth of the Group. After graduating his Masters in Statistics with distinction from the Madras University, he pursued his Management Studies at the University of Michigan following which he joined his family business along with his father in the year 1983.

His contribution towards the consistent performance of the Group and its foray into multifarious fields are significant. Today, Sakthi Sugars Limited is a major producer and exporter of sugar in the country. It has four plants with a combined crushing capacity of 19,000 TCD. The integrated sugar complex at Sakthinagar also produces Co-Generated Power, Industrial Alcohol and Ethanol. He has to his credit the institution of a world class Foundry at Pallagoundenpalayam in the year 1983 and its present capacity is 60000MT.

Current Positions:
Dr. M. Manickam is currently holding many key positions in esteemed organizations. He is currently serving as the Vice President of South Indian Sugar Mills Association (Tamilnadu) for the year 2009-2010. He is also Member – of State Level information and Communication Technology Task Force, Government of Tamilnadu andIndian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR), New Delhi.

He served as the President of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), New Delhi for 1996 – 97, President of South Indian Sugar Mills Association (SISMA) Tamilnadu for 1993-94, 1994-95 and 2006 -07 and President of Sugar Technologists' of India (STAI) for 2000-01 and 2001-02.

He is also the Chairman of the Governing Council of Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, and Nachimuthu Polytechnic College, Pollachi and Vice Chairman of the Governing council of Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore and Correspondent for 5 other Educational Institutions. He evinces keen interest in the development of Good infrastructure in the technical institutions and the implementation of Computer based training programmes for the workforce.

Mr. M. Balasubramaniam, Managing Director

Sri. M. Balasubramaniam, the second son of Arutchelvar Dr N Mahalingam is the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Sakthi Finance Ltd. He holds a Master's in Commerce from the Loyola College, Chennai and MBA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame, USA.

He has under his able leadership the ABT Industries Ltd, which has two major divisions - Dairy and Auto. Holding Directorship in most of the Sakthi Group of Companies he is also serving as the Correspondent of the Kumaraguru College of Technology and Secretary of Nachimuthu Gounder Mahalingam College. He has to his credit the successful operation of the Sakthi Finance, Diary and Auto divisions and the accolade of the running the biggest Tata Dealership in Tamil Nadu. He was Vice Chairman and Chairman of CII during 1997-98 & 1998-99. He is also member in the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. M. Srinivaasan, Joint Managing Director

Mr.M.Srinivaasan,the third son of Padmabushan Dr. N. Mahalingam is a Managing Director of Sri Chamundeswari Sugars Limited. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Mysore University. He pursued his Masters Degree in Management at Smeal College of Business at Pennsylvania State University and subsequently returned to India in the year 1993 and joined Sri Chamundeswari Sugars Limited, as its Executive Director managing the General Administration, Purchase and Sales Activities of the Company. He then took charge as the Managing Director of the company in the year 1998.

He has contributed enormously to the growth and expansion of Sri Chamundeswari Sugars Limited and to the inception of its Co-generation Power Plant in the year 2008.

Under his able leadership the unit increased its production from 1250TCD to 2500 TCD in the year 1984 then to 3500 TCD in 1996 and 4000 TCD in the year 2000. He also pioneered the institution of Unit -2 of Sri Chamundeswari Sugars Limited in the year 2008-09 with a production capacity of 1250 TCD.

He has also served as the President of the South Indian Sugar Mills Association (SISMA) Karnataka for the period from 1997 - 1999 and 2005 – 2008 and is presently on the Committee of ISMA, New Delhi and SISMA (Karnataka).