Birla Corporation on Monday announced a change in its management with the board of directors of the company approving the appointment of Arvind Pathak as the managing director and CEO for a period of three years effective from March 31, 2021.
The mantle of CEO passes from current wholetime director and CEO Pracheta Majumdar, a veteran in the company. He has been re-designated as wholetime director and chief management adviser of the company effective from March 31, 2021.
In a statement to the bourses, the company said that Pathak has experience of 36 years in the cement industry having held the CEO or equivalent positions for over 14 years in various large organisations which include ACC, DCP, Adani and Reliance ADAG group. He holds a degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi and a postgraduate degree in industrial engineering and management.
“The aforesaid appointment is subject to approval of the shareholders at the next general meeting of the company,” Birla Corporation said in a statement to the bourses. The scrips of the company at Rs 866.40 were up 2 per cent over the previous close on the BSE.
The rejig in the board comes amid the ongoing legal tussle over the control of the company and the MP Birla group to which it belongs.
The company, however, has seen a strong third quarter posting an 82 per cent jump in net profit on the back of growth in sales volume, aggressive cost rationalisation and high sale of premium products.
A focus for the new CEO would be on navigating the expansion projects of the cement major which is aiming to achieve a capacity of 25 million tonnes by 2025. This includes the construction of the Company’s 3.9 mt cement plant at Mukutban in Maharashtra which is expected to be commissioned in the third quarter of next fiscal year. The company is also planning to scale up incremental clinker capacity at Chanderia in Rajasthan in the first quarter of the next fiscal year.
Birla Corporation and its subsidiary, RCCPL Private Limited (the erstwhile Reliance Cement Company Private Limited), have 10 cement plants spread across the country, with an annual installed capacity of 15.5 million tons.
