Anand Mahindra offers to resign from NACIL board
22 Feb 2011
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) vice-chairman Anand Mahindra yesterday offered to resign from the board of Nacil that runs state-owned carrier Air India, on grounds of conflict of interest.
In a letter addressed to civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi, he sought permission to step down from the board of National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL).
''The recently concluded Aero-India 2011 at Bangalore has thrown up business opportunities for my company Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, which was a potential conflict of interest and thereby throws up questions of good board practice. Hence my request,'' the letter said.
Meanwhile, the much awaited debut in the US of M&M's light pick-up truck, TR40, has run into a marketing setback with the vehicle achieving American fuel economy rating of 19 miles per gallon (mpg) in the city and 21 on highways - much lower than the 30mpg the company has promised its retailers, which the established models in the market like Toyota Tacoma and Ford F 150 offer.
The fuel economy setback comes around a year following M&M's US dealer Global Vehicles taking the Indian company to court in Atlanta, over what it claimed were delays in the launch of the vehicle.
According to M&M officials, the fuel economy figures look worse as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had introduced a new method of calculating the mileage.