Vijaypat Singhania nominated to IIM-A board

AHMEDABAD: Speculation over who the new chairman of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), will be, was laid to rest on Friday evening. The ministry of human resources development, headed by Arjun Singh, has nominated Vijaypat Singhania as the successor to Infosys chief mentor NR Narayana Murthy, who retired recently.


Singhania, chairman emeritus of Raymond Ltd, was the dark horse in the race for the IIMA chairmanship. Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Sunil Bharti Mittal were also said to be strong contenders at one stage. Singhania now takes over as chairman of the society and the IIM board of governors for a period of five years. His nomination comes just a week before the annual IIMA convocation scheduled for March 31.


At one stage in the race, Anil Ambani was also said to be a contender. His brother Mukesh Ambani is already chairman of the IIM, Bangalore, board. “The HRD ministry plays a major role in the appointment of all IIM chairmen. Since Anil Ambani is already a member of IIMA’s governing council, he should have had a good chance. But his strong political association with the Samajwadi Party obviously worked against him,” a source said on condition of anonymity.


As for Sunil Mittal, his candidature was not seriously considered since he is already on the boards of IIM, Lucknow, and IIT, Mumbai.


The winds of change will soon be blowing strong at the institute as director Bakul Dholakia’s term will also get over in October this year. The air on the campus is taut with speculation about Dholakia’s successor.


The successor is most likely to be one of the incumbent faculty members.
“Two or three names are nominated through an internal consensus at the institute to the HRD ministry, which then takes a final call. There is no specific criterion for the nomination of a faculty member as director, not even seniority,” the source said, adding that it was too soon to speculate about Dholakia’s successor.



source : DnaIndia

 
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