The board will manage the washing machine facility and refrigeration plants at Butiburi and Vorora respectively. The white-goods division was recently hived off from Voltas and transferred to the joint venture.

The company's chairman will be Lennart Ribohn, while the managing director will be Ram S Ramasundar. The wholetime director will be another Electrolux nominee AV Singhal, and SM Bhandarkar will be the only Voltas nominee on the board.

Electolux managing director Ramasundar told The Financial Express: "The company's overall operations will be looked after by the common Electrolux management team and the board will look into the specific problems."

"The acquisiton of Voltas was a key step towards being a dominant white goods company. We will consider further acquisitions as and when opportunities rise. Presently we arenot in talks with any company but will certainly look for further expansions," he said.

The company's specific target will be to emerge the largest white goods manufacturer in home appliances, to broaden product base and add fresh brands.

Under the statutory requirments, the joint venture will be registered in the as Voltas Electrolux Pvt Ltd, but the company will alter its name to Electrolux-Voltas Ltd at a later date, according to company sources.

Apart from the present joint venture with Voltas, Electrolux has three other joint ventures in the country. It holds about 51 per cent stake in refrigerator manufacturer Maharaja International. It also holds about 74 per cent stake in the washing machines maker Intron Ltd. Since 1982, Electrolux has held about 40 per cent stake in Eureka Forbes which manufactures vaccuum cleaners and water purifiers.

It is believed that all workers and management staff of Voltas' white-goods division will be absorbed into the new firm under the same serviceconditions.