CHENNAI: Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, which are in the process of merging their operations to create the country’s biggest telecom carrier, on Thursday drafted their key leadership team.
Aditya-Birla group veteran Kumar Mangalam Birla will head the new company as the non-executive chairman of the board of the combined firm. Balesh Kumar, currently the chief operating officer of Vodafone India, has been appointed the chief executive officer.
“Balesh Sharma will be responsible for the combined business’ strategy and its execution as well as driving integration,” the two companies said in a statement.
The other key management positions appointed include Akshaya Moondra, current chief financial officer at Idea, who will be the CFO of the combined venture, and Ambrish Jain, current deputy managing director at Idea, who will take over as COO. Manish Dawar, current CFO of Vodafone India, will take the overall responsibility for integration planning, governance and execution. Nick Gliddon, current director, Vodafone Business Services, Vodafone India, will head the enterprise business of the merged entity.
Idea managing director Himanshu Kapania and Vodafone India CEO Sunil Sood will retain their roles until the merger is completed. The Aditya Birla Group also intends to nominate Himanshu Kapania as a non-executive Board member of the merged entity.