Firdose Vandrevala quits Motorola

NEW DELHI: Global mobile handset manufacturer Motorola said on Monday that its India chairman and corporate vice-president Firdose Vandrevala has resigned to pursue other interests, “Firdose is leaving us to pursue other career interests.

He has contributed to our strategy, growth, and governance. I commend Firdose for his contribution and wish him success in his new career,” said Motorola’s Asia Pacific president Mr Simon Leung. “Mr Amit Sharma, VP strategy, Asia Pacific and regional management, South East Asia, will assume additional responsibility for India in the interim,” Mr Leung added.

Mr Vandrevala’s two-year stint at Motorola saw the company making an impressive comeback in the handset space. Motorola, which was a fringe player in this space, now commands a double digit market share.

The period also saw the company setting up a manufacturing facility in India and launching a series of innovative schemes such as tying up with Bharti Teletec and ITC’s e-choupal in the retail space. “He was primarily instrumental in aligning the company’s mobile, network and managed services businesses in India into a single entity,” added a company source. It was also during his stint that Motorola’s bid for the 45.5 million GSM line tender of BSNL was rejected.