BPL inducts three independent directors

In a move to bring the company in compliance with the recommendations of the Kumar Managalam Birla Committee report on corporate governance, BPL Limited has inducted three additional directors and two existing directors have stepped down.

The directors who have stepped down include Shashi Nambiar, the managing director of BPL Sanyo Technologies, and LH Bhatia, wholetime director who has now been appointed managing director of BPL Sanyo Refrigerators. This leaves only Ajit Nambiar, the chairman and managing director of BPL Limited, as the only executive director on the board.

The newly inducted directors include Jaybharat Reddy, Suraj Mehta and K S Jayant Kumar.

Mr. Reddy has been the secretary to the government of India in the ministry of urban development and also secretary in the finance ministry. During his stint with the government, he has also been associated with the department of banking, insurance and administration in the finance ministry and also the secretariat for industrial approval.

Mr. Mehta is the chief executive officer of Dresdner Bank and has previously held several key positions with ANZ Grindlays.

Mr. Kumar is the chairman of BPL Mobile Cellular as well as of BPL Mobile Communications.

With these changes, apart from Mr. Ajit Nambiar, the 10-member strong board has six independent directors and three non-executive directors.