In a top-level management rejig, Bharti Enterprises, the holding company for all Bharti Airtel group companies, on Tuesday elevated Manoj Kohli to the position of managing director of Bharti Enterprises to lead the oversight of all non-telecom businesses of the group, including retail, insurance, food and realty.
Gopal Vittal ? who is currently Bharti Airtel?s joint MD & CEO (India) ? has been elevated as the managing director for India and South Asia. The Bangladesh and Sri Lanka businesses of Airtel will now come under South Asia operations.
As part of the restructuring, Akhil Gupta has been made the chairman of Bharti Infratel and vice-chairman of Bharti Enterprises while serving on other Bharti boards. The new structure would be effective April 1, 2014.
?The new structure reflects the next phase of Bharti?s growth journey, which will be led by best-in-class professionals in various segments,? said Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman, Bharti Enterprises.
As part of the rejig, DS Rawat, CEO Bharti Infratel, will be appointed as MD and CEO of Bharti Infratel and will be inducted into the board of the company. Meanwhile, Christian de Faria will be appointed by Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV as the managing director and CEO (Africa), and will assume full operational responsibility of the company?s operations across 17 African geographies.
Kohli, who will relinquish his position as managing director & CEO (International) Bharti Airtel, will also be responsible for business development, corporate and shareholder relations on a group-wide basis. In addition, Manoj will serve on various Bharti boards including Airtel and be the chairman of Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, that owns Airtel?s African operations.
The company said under the new structure, Bharti Corporate Office will be focused on and will deal with matters of governance. Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal and three vice-chairmen, Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Rajan Bharti Mittal and Akhil Gupta, along with managing director, Manoj Kohli and four Bharti veterans, will form the Bharti Governance Board (BGB), it added.
