Cairn India CEO Rahul Dhir quits

Dhir, who was the face of Cairn India since the time the firm's British promoters listed it on Bombay Stock Exchange to make the company more local, quit in less than eight months of London-based mining group Vedanta taking over the firm.

With Dhir, the entire top management of Cairn India has quit the company since billionaire Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta announced buying majority stake in the firm from Scottish explorer Cairn Energy Plc.

"The board of Cairn India announces that Dhir has decided to step down as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company effective August 31, 2012 to pursue his entrepreneurial interests," the company said in a statement.

Rick Bott, who was Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Cairn India, quit the firm from June 15, 2011 while its Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer Indrajit Banerjee resigned with effect from August 23, 2011.

Recently, David Ginger, Cairn India's director of exploration and new ventures, quit the firm.

It is unclear if Dhir's exit voilates the preconditions set by the Government for Vedanta Group to takeover Cairn India. The Government had among other things pre-conditioned approval to the acquisition on Vedanta Group retaining the entire management team at Cairn India for three years.

Vedanta completed the USD 8.67 billion acquisition of Cairn India in December 2011.

"The search for Dhir's successor is underway and an announcement is expected soon. During this

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