Two top executives quit debt-laden Aircel

MUMBAI | CHENNAI: Two top executives of Aircel have resigned in what industry insiders say is the first set of top-level exits from the debt-laden mobile network operator. Vipul Saurabh, who was national head, operations and customer services, and Anupam Vasudev, who was chief marketing officer, have put in their papers, people close to the development said.

Saurabh had been with Aircel since 2009, while Vasudev joined the telco in 2011. This is the first set of CXOs to resign from the Malaysian Maxis-owned telecom company, which is expected to file for bankruptcy soon. “Both CXOs have resigned and others may follow suit,” said one of the persons cited above.

Aircel did not respond to ET’s queries on the resignations till press time.


The leadership exits mirrors the panic felt down the ranks as well. Recruiters have been inundated with resumes of Aircel's 5,000-odd employees in the last few months and expect a surge after the company wrote to its employees of the troubled times ahead. Aircel CEO Kaizad Heerjee in an email last week told employees to brace for “difficult” times amid “serious funding issues” in the face of intense competition. “We have had no funding for some time and have been dependent on cash generation from our current business operations,” he said.

Aircel is considering filing for bankruptcy in the NCLT, ET reported last Sunday, likely marking the demise of the last small mobile phone company and leaving only four non-state telcos, which will soon become three after a merger.