Lakshmi Venu and Mallika Srinivasan call for fair division of TVS family assets

Mallika Srinivasan and her daughter Lakshmi Venu have called for an orderly, transparent division of family assets within the TVS Group branch led by patriarch Venu Srinivasan, insisting that no financial settlement has yet taken place.

The push sets Mallika and Lakshmi against Venu Srinivasan and his son Sudarshan Venu. In a joint statement issued late Monday, the mother and daughter made clear that any equitable arrangement must respect the legitimate economic interests of every family member through independent valuation and mutual consent.

The dispute centres on differing interpretations of a memorandum of understanding signed on 21 March 2024 by all four family members. Venu Srinivasan and Sudarshan view the pact as having concluded the family settlement. Lakshmi and Mallika dispute that position entirely, saying the document dealt solely with management mandates, trademark usage, brand rights and non-compete obligations following the broader TVS Group partition in 2020.

"The suggestion that all family assets belong exclusively to one individual, who is therefore free to distribute them unilaterally, is neither an agreed nor an established position," their statement said. They argued that assigning someone to run a company does not transfer corporate ownership, nor does exceptional operational performance extinguish another heir's legal entitlement.

Tensions mounted after an April 2025 regulatory filing by TVS Holdings declared significant beneficial ownership in favour of Sudarshan Venu, alongside friction over boardroom appointments at Sundaram-Clayton.

Lakshmi Venu wants the branch to replicate the process used during the 2020 restructuring of the wider TVS Group, where assets across four major wings were formally valued, divided and balanced by compensatory payouts. Sources close to the family say her requests for talks over recent months went unanswered, prompting Mallika Srinivasan to seek a neutral mediator to avert gender disparity in the distribution of generational wealth.

Division of responsibilities and market scale

The siblings have managed separate businesses across the southern industrial group for years, though their corporate valuations diverge sharply.

Sudarshan oversees the automotive, financial services, real estate and drone businesses under TVS Holdings. Lakshmi heads auto-component maker Sundaram-Clayton. She also became vice chair of Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE) in March 2025, where Mallika serves as chairperson and managing director.

Both women dismissed arguments that Lakshmi's role at TAFE satisfies her share of the inheritance. TAFE belongs to the Amalgamations Group, an enterprise founded by Mallika's grandfather S Anantharamakrishnan, and they maintain it has no bearing on the TVS estate.

Neither Venu Srinivasan nor Sudarshan Venu responded to requests for comment.