Nokia, which completed transfer of its handset business to software giant Microsoft today, may name India-born Rajeev Suri as its new CEO.
The company is expected to make this announcement on on April 29 when it will unveil financial result, according to newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.
Suri at present heads Nokia's telecom equipment business.
The new CEO will replace Stephen Elop, who is returning to Microsoft as executive vice president of the devices group. He joined Nokia in 2010 and stepped down as CEO when the sale to Microsoft was announced.
After Microsoft's over USD 7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia's handset business, the Finnish firm is left with the telecom equipment, location-based services and advanced technologies business.
Bothe newly-appointed Microsoft chief Satya Nadella are Mangalore University graduates.
Suri joins the elite club of Indians heading global firms, which includes PepsiCo Chairman Indra Nooyi, Reckitt Benckiser Chief Executive Rakesh Kapoor, Ajay Banga, President and Chief Executive of MasterCard, and Anshu Jain co-CEO of Deutsche Bank.
Suri, who has headed Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) since October 2009, has been credited for "presiding over consistently improving results leading to the successful turnaround and restructuring of the company".
According to his official profile, Suri has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from Mangalore University. He is based in Espoo, Finland.
With more than 23 years of international experience, Suri has worked in strategy and mergers & acquisitions, product marketing, sales, major account leadership, regional and business unit leadership and has lived in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.
Suri joined Nokia in 1995 and headed the Asia Pacific region for NSN in 2007.
In July last year, Nokia agreed to buy German engineering giant Siemens' 50 per cent stake in their mobile broadband joint venture NSN for 1.7 billion euros (USD 2.2 billion) after which the firm was renamed Nokia Solutions and Networks.
