Date:08/07/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/07/08/stories/2003070804081800.htm

Business

Maruti board recast

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 7. The board of Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) has undergone a drastic change today with the induction of three independent directors as well as former Chairman, R.C. Bhargava, as part time director. In a meeting attended by the Chairman of the Suzuki Motor Corporation, Osamu Suzuki, it was also decided to set up an audit committee and another one to deal with investors' grievances.

This is the first board meeting of the company after the highly successful initial public offer by which the Government diluted its equity stake in the company by 27.5 per cent to reach 17.5 per shareholding.

Earlier, the MUL Chairman, Jagdish Khattar, disclosed that the company's shares would be listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange by July 9 or 10. He was speaking to newspersons shortly after the Suzuki chief called on the Union Disinvestment Minister, Arun Shourie, to commend him for the MUL's successful public issue.

The new directors inducted on the board include Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla group, Amal Ganguli, former Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers India and Pallavi Shroff, senior partner of Amarchand and Mangaldas and Suresh A. Shroff and company.

The two directors on the board representing Suzuki also submitted their resignations. These include Finance Director, Motohiro Atsumi, and Hirofuno Nagao. The former MUL chairman, R.C. Bhargava has also been brought in as a part-time director.

The constitution of the audit committee and the investors' grievances committee has been carried as mandated by the stock exchanges.

A company statement notes that all the new members inducted are eminent people in their respective fields and would contribute to enhance the quality of corporate governance at Maruti.