Bajaj Group Chairman Rahul Bajaj presides over a group with Rs 15,145 crore in revenues, Rs 1,650 crore in profits, more than 15,000 employees, four brothers, two sons and four nephews. One of them, Kushagra Nayan Bajaj, is litigating against his uncle over how the family empire will be divided. Though both parties want a settlement, it has eluded them so far.

The Hyderabad-based GMR Group headed by patriarch Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao, in the news for its bold entry into the airports business, has revenues of Rs 2,171 crore, Rs 261 crore in profits, 2,000 employees, two sons and one son-in-law. To protect itself from filial misadventures, the group hired London-based advisor Peter Leach to create a succession blueprint and a code of conduct for the family.

Almost every day, somewhere in India, a family dispute is being played out; when they occur in large industrial houses, they are usually in the glare of public scrutiny. To students, analysts and observers of business, they are part and parcel of the economic fabric of the country. Even internationally, family feuds are a frequent occurrence, including famous, even household names: Gucci, the Pritzkers of the Hyatt group of hotels and the Agnellis of Fiat, to name a few.

The first example shows how differences among family members can spiral into a full-blown dispute that lands up in the courts and the media; the second case illustrates how Indian family-run business groups are taking steps to wrestle with a problem that has uniquely Indian twists — succession.