Essar group on hunt for 2nd line of command

Mumbai: The Ruias-promoted Essar group has launched a talent hunt to create a second-line of command in the group. The group has brought in fresh blood in the form of eight senior executives from various MNCs, at the same time senior-level managers within group companies have also been elevated to decision-making levels.

Among those recruited in recent months are Mukesh Bhavana from Sony who heads the legal division of Essar, Sujaya Banerjee, director, HR, BG Exploration and Production has joined as chief learning officer, Adil Mallia, VP, human resources, Coca-Cola India has joined the group as group president, HR. Essar has also roped on Eion Turnbull from a leading Australian oil firm as chief, refinery operations and Darryl Pattison, an Australia based oil trading expert was brought in earlier last year to head the group’s oil trading business. Robin Banerjee from Thomas Cook has recently joined the group as director finance while Vijay Mehra joined Essar as chief information officer from McKenzie. Company sources say Essar is still hunting for people to head its steel and oil business.

Additional changes include Vikram Amin’s elevation as director, sales and marketing, Essar Steel. He was earlier heading Essar’s Indonesian operations. AK Ramakrishna, COO, Essar Shipping has been elevated as CEO. The Ruias have been restructuring the shareholding structure for the past six months to bring various businesses of Essar Group under Essar Global, a firm based in Cayman Islands. Substantial shareholdings of Essar Oil and Essar Shipping have already been brought under Essar Global. The promoters hope that the move will help get better valuations.