Amritanshu Khaitan has stepped down from the board of India’s largest tea plantation company, McLeod Russel India Ltd, signalling a split in operational control within the promoter family. Khaitan, who has been on the McLeod board since the untimely death of his father, Deepak Khaitan, in 2015, cited personal reasons and other commitments for his resignation.

His uncle Aditya Khaitan is the chairman and managing director of McLeod Russel, which has been reeling under financial stress for years. Aditya is also a non-executive director of Kilburn Engineering Ltd, which has been the focus of Amritanshu since 2021.

McLeod Russel is part of the Williamson Magor Group, founded by the late Brij Mohan Khaitan, grandfather of Amritanshu. At the zenith of the group, it controlled the largest bulk tea producer in the world and also India’s biggest producer of zinc-carbon batteries, which are used in electronic devices (remote/wall clock).

However, the group’s fortune unravelled after the promoter group’s big bet on McNally Bharat Engineering Co Ltd went awry, dragging down the rest of the operating companies. Battery producer Eveready Industries, where Amritanshu used to be the managing director, was taken over by the Burman family, the promoters of Dabur.

In his letter to the board, Amritanshu referred to the ‘limited’ role he played on the board of McLeod as a non-executive director. He had little to do with the operations of the company despite being a promoter family member, he said.

“As you are aware, while I am a member of the promoter family, my role on the board has at all times been limited to that of a non-executive director. My access to information has been confined to such information as was provided to the board in the ordinary course of board proceedings,” Khaitan wrote in the letter to the McLeod board.

“For the sake of clarity, I wish to place on record that I have not been involved in, nor have I participated in, the day-to-day management, operational affairs, or executive decision-making of the company.”

Amritanshu, however, also clarified that the decision “should not be construed as being connected with the affairs, management, or operations of the company”.

Industry sources said the letter hinted that all may not be well between Aditya, Brij Mohan’s younger son, and Amritanshu, who both continue to be shareholders and part of the promoter group in McLeod and Kilburn.

It is likely that each of them would now focus on the companies where they have independent operational control. After Eveready slipped away from the group, Amritanshu focused on Kilburn, whose revenue has grown five times in the last five years, and its net profit has jumped manifold. The letter said the resignation would enable him to focus on other areas and manage time commitments more effectively.

As chairman and managing director, Aditya Khaitan helms McLeod, which is understood to be in the final phase of negotiation with NARCL for the resolution of outstanding debt. A decision on restructuring of debt may be reached in the next four weeks.