Navin Agarwal, brother of Anil Agarwal, chairman of London-based Vedanta Resources, has taken over as chairman of Cairn India. Vedanta Resources is the new promoter of Cairn India, with 58.5 per cent stake in the company.
He takes over from Bill Gammell, chairman of Cairn Energy.
Anil Agarwal's daughter, Priya Agarwal, will be an additional director on the company's board.
In a letter to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Cairn India on Friday informed that after the sale of majority shareholding by Cairn UK Holdings Ltd to the Vedanta Group and its group companies — Twin Star Mauritius Holdings Ltd, Sesa Goa Ltd and Sesa Resources Ltd — the latter are the new promoters.
Consequent to this change, the board of directors appointed Navin Agarwal, Tarun Jain and Priya Agarwal as additional directors on the board. Navin Agarwal is also the chairman.
The board has accepted the resignations of Bill Gammell and Jann Brown, nominee directors of Cairn UK Holdings Ltd, from the board.
All the existing independent directors and Rahul Dhir, managing director and chief executive officer, will continue as directors, the letter to BSE said.
Vedanta Resources had on December 8 announced the completion of its acquisition of a controlling stake in Cairn India. It acquired 58.5 per cent for a total consideration of $8.67 billion. Vedanta Resources Plc holds 38.5 per cent of Cairn India and its subsidiary Sesa Goa holds 20 per cent. The transaction marks Vedanta’s entry into the oil and gas sector.
Cairn India operates the largest producing oilfield in the Indian private sector, at Barmer in Rajasthan. With Cairn India, Vedanta expands its already significant presence in Rajasthan, where it operates Hindustan Zinc Ltd, the world’s largest zinc-lead producer.
