CAPTAIN COOL

CALM, FOCUSSED, AND FUTURE-READY— SNS IS QUIETLY RESHAPING L&T FOR THE NEXT FRONTIER.

- BY P.B. JAYAKUMAR

THE RECENTLY refurbished fourth floor of L&T House at Ballard Estate in Mumbai could easily rival the grandest banquet halls of South Mumbai's five-star hotels. From its windows, one can see a breathtaking panorama—ships, boats, and tugs gliding gracefully across the deep blue waters of the Arabian Sea, set against a backdrop of clear skies and Mumbai's latest engineering marvel, the Atal Setu, a good part of which was built by Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

Ballard Estate itself carries an air of heritage and distinction. Between 1908 and 1914, the Bombay Port Trust transformed what was once a sea-flooded foreshore into a thriving commercial district lined with stately buildings in European Renaissance style. In the 1960s, L&T acquired the Bombay office of Imperial Chemical Industries and transformed it into the company's headquarters.

When in Mumbai, chairman and MD, S.N. Subrahmanyan often operates from this elegant and vast office—meeting clients, holding internal discussions, or simply soaking in the serene energy of the space. Yet, he is not confined to one address. At times, he works from the Landmark Building in Andheri, or from home opposite Antilia, Mukesh Ambani's opulent home on Altamount Road. On other days, he can be found at the Powai campus, where the new 12-storey AM Naik Tower stands tall as the company's primary corporate office. “Why make a group of people travel across the city to meet me?” he says with quiet composure. “I can go and meet them where they are.”

It's a philosophy that reflects his unassuming nature—a sharp contrast to that of his mentor and predecessor, A.M. Naik, who ruled L&T like a colossus for over two decades. Naik mostly preferred to meet people at his office at Landmark; Subrahmanyan, by contrast, prefers to walk up to them.