According to a report in the Business Standard financial newspaper, Ruia may relinquish his position and appoint separate professional management to the firms. The Ruia Group, of which Ruia is chairman, will remain the enterprises’ holding company.

“It will control the group companies through appropriate reporting systems,” Ruia told reporters. He has already stepped down from being an executive chairman at wagon manufacturer Jessop & Co., and according to the Business Standard is already seeking a suitable candidate to head Falcon Tyres.

However, when asked to clarify his intentions regarding Dunlop India, Ruia said this new model of management would only be followed by companies that were on the right track – and Dunlop India is, he said, not on the right track. Media probing failed, however, to draw out a categorical response to the question of whether he would stay on as the tyre maker’s executive chairman. (Tyres & Accessories/Staffordshire, U.K.)