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Our Corporate Bureau
Mumbai, Mar 26: A V Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla has roped in Saurabh Misra, the deputy chairman of ITC, as director of Birla Management Centre, the apex policy-making body of the Rs 20,000-crore group. He is expected to assume charge by April-end.
Misra will be responsible for the group's telecom business, as well as two smaller group firms - HGI Industries and Essel Mining. He will also be overseeing the group-wide initiatives of Delhi-based Global Marketing Cell.
Misra's experience in managing joint ventures at ITC will also come in handy at a time when the group is seeking to reorganise its operational structure.
His appointment marks the second major recruitment by the group in the last six months after Debu Bhattacharya, then a director on HLL board, joined as the chairman of the management centre and managing director of Indo Gulf Corporation.
Misra brings with him the experience of handling both growth and crisis at ITC. In the early 1990s, he proved a capable head of the IndianTobacco Division as well as the Indian Leaf Tobacco Division of the country's largest tobacco company.
As a struggle for management control of the tobacco giant began between the then chairman KL Chugh and the single-largest British parent BAT Plc, Misra was caught in the crossfire and was overlooked for chairmanship as Chugh successfully managed to pass on the baton to his protege, YC Deveshwar.
Misra once again weathered a storm by standing firm with his board colleagues at ITC as the enforcement directorate (ED), income-tax department and excise authorities began probes for suspected evasion. He was even imprisoned briefly in 1996 following charges levelled against him by the ED.
Misra, thereafter, headed the financial services division of ITC, successfully seeing the beleagured unit off through a sellout to ICICI last year.
Known also as a popular tennis-freak apart from a hard-as-nails corporate battler, Misra will bring to the Aditya Birla group his global marketing expertise with the ITC'sexport division as well.
Birla, in a press release, said: "Given that the Aditya Birla group is poised for a major quality growth through continuous evaluation and upgradation of all its business elements, Misra's rich and successful experience in India and abroad will provide crucial support to the group's mission of value creation."
He added that Misra's expertise in the area of consumer marketing, joint-venture management and new business development will strengthen the group's initiatives towards restructuring the organisation and help sharpen focus.
The Birlas' interest in telecom is now restricted to its joint venture with AT&T, the cellular-services operator for Maharashtra (except Mumbai), Gujarat and Goa.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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