Manoj Kohli to be Airtel MD in management rejig

In a fresh restructuring of its top management, Bharti Airtel proposes to make Manoj Kohli the managing director while elevating newly appointed chief executive officer of India operations Gopal Vittal as joint managing director. Vittal will also come on the company's board as additional director.

Kohli currently heads Bharti's African business. Even after his promotion, the crucial Indian business, which accounts for 70 per cent of revenues, would be outside his area of responsibility, which observers consider peculiar given his official elevation.

For Vittal, currently the company's director of special projects, this is seen as a major promotion as outgoing chief executive Sanjay Kapoor, whom Vittal replaces, was not on the board.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, the company's chairman and managing director, will henceforth be the executive chairman.

Vittal will take charge of the India and South Asian business in March, and he will be answerable directly to Sunil Mittal, the executive chairman of Bharti Airtel.

The proposals will be taken up for ratification at the company's board meeting on 1 February when the October-December earnings are scheduled to be taken up, Bharti stated in a filing with the stock exchanges.