'Surname Isn't Ticket To Rs 31,000 Crore': Nikhil Nanda On Navya Naveli's Future At Escorts Kubota

For Nikhil Nanda, legacy may open a door, but it does not guarantee a chair at the table.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Escorts Kubota Limited, who is married to Shweta Bachchan, has made it clear that their daughter Navya Naveli Nanda cannot expect a place in the company merely because of her surname, family connections, or the weight of inheritance. It will have to be earned.

Speaking on a podcast, Nanda said Escorts Kubota is a listed company and the market is intelligent enough to judge promoter governance, pedigree and credibility. 

"India is very intelligent in spotting governance pedigree of promoters," he said, adding that everything eventually gets reflected in the share price.

Escorts Kubota, a listed engineering and agri-machinery company with a market value of about Rs 31,000 crore, has the Nanda family and Kubota as promoters. Nanda said that after him, his children would eventually represent the Nanda family's shareholder voice and rights alongside Kubota. 

But he drew a firm line between family representation and operating responsibility.

Surname Won't Get Navya Naveli Ticket To Rs 31,000 Crore

"Navya is now showing willingness to participate more and more into EKL," he said. "But just because her last name is Nanda does not give her the right to get a position. She has to earn her position."

Nanda said he believes Navya will do that on her own. He described her as smart and ambitious, noting that she recently graduated from IIM Ahmedabad and has been making several visits with him to Japan. According to him, she has already built a relationship with senior leadership in Japan, and they appreciate her mind.

He also pointed to her earlier stint with Meta and said her digital exposure could matter for Escorts Kubota's future. In his view, the company must increasingly move towards digital marketing and digital ways of working, and Navya could participate in that transition.

But Nanda was careful not to define her future role for her. "For her to do what she will do as a day-to-day operation of EKL is for her to carve her path based on her appreciation and impact," he said. "It really is up to her."

He extended the same freedom to his son Agastya Nanda, who has chosen the entertainment business and become an actor. Nanda recalled a joke in the family: "My son says, I became an actor, Navya is going towards tractor."

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The line may sound light, but it captures the split between two next-generation heirs choosing different paths. Agastya is moving towards cinema, while Navya appears increasingly interested in business, family office work, private equity and the Nanda family's shareholding responsibilities.

Nanda said he does not want to impose ambition on his children. "My mother always told me, Nikhil, let your children do what they love," he said. "So I believe in that."

The conversation also moved to his maternal grandfather Raj Kapoor, whom Nanda said he first knew not as a legend, but simply as "Nana ji". He recalled childhood summers in Mumbai, simple meals at places like Gita Bhavan and Ravi Cafe, and only later realising the scale of Kapoor's fame when a Russian taxi driver in the US recognised Raj Kapoor's songs and refused to charge him after learning the connection.

But the lesson that stayed with him came from a private moment when, as a 12-year-old, he asked Kapoor what he expected of him as a grandson. Kapoor told him that if, after retirement, he could step out of a three-wheeler and still be loved and saluted for the impact he had created, that would be true wealth and reputation.

Nanda said he has tried to live by that idea. Humility, he suggested, is not weakness. For him, legacy is not about entitlement. It is about impact, reputation and whether the next generation can earn the right to carry the name forward.

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