Gautam Thapar is stepping down as chairman of Avantha group flagship company Ballarpur Industries (BILT) effective April 1. B Hariharan, group director – finance and a company veteran, will become the new chairman of the company. The decisions were ratified at a meeting of the board of directors. Hariharan has been reappointed executive director for a period of three years. While the exact reasons are not known, Thapar wanted to step down as chairman due to his other preoccupations. Thapar will continue to be a non-executive director of the company. He has been the chairman of the company since 2006.
The current vice-chairman, RR Vederah, will continue in his position following his appointment as an additional independent director with immediate effect. Hariharan has been associated with Ballarpur since 1985 and was appointed a board member and designated group director (finance) in 2001. Hariharan is a member of the Avantha management board, which formulates the strategy of the Avantha group, and is also on the board of various group companies.
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Thapar was appointed managing director of Ballarpur Industries in April 1999 and was subsequently designated as vice-chairman and managing director of the company in 2001. He is also the chairman of Crompton Greaves, Salient Business Solutions and the managing director of Bilt Paper Holdings.
Gautam Thapar is founder and chairman of the Avantha group which includes CG Power and Industrial Solutions, BILT, Global Green Company, Biltech Building Elements, Avantha Agritech, Avantha Power and Infrastructure, Avantha Solutions and Jg Containers.
