Birlas step down from Larsen & Toubro board

Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and his mother Rajashree Birla have stepped down from Larsen & Toubro's (L&T) board, after the group offloaded its stake in the company.

The Aditya Birla group has sold 14.95 per cent of its stake in L&T to the L&T Employees Welfare Foundation for Rs 446 crore.

A M Naik, chairman and managing director, L&T, said, "Much to our regret, Kumar Mangalam Birla and Rajashree Birla have stepped down from L &T's board."

L&T has appointed Suresh Talwar of Crawford Bailey & Company and M M Chitale, ex-president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, as two independent directors on the board.

Meanwhile, the new board of UltraTech CemCo comprises Kumar Mangalam Birla, Rajashree Birla, J P Nayak and Y M Deosthalee from L&T, Santrupt Misra, director - human resources, Aditya Birla group, D D Rathi, group executive president and chief financial officer - Grasim Industries, one nominees from financial institutions - S Rajagopal and K S R Khare "" and two independent directors - R C Bhargava, ex managing director - Maruti Udyog and Arun Gandhi, director, Tata Sons.

Saurabh Misra, currently heading the cement division of Grasim, will be the chief executive officer of UltraTech, while K C Birla has been appointed as the chief financial officer.