Essar Energy appoints Sushil Maroo as Chief Executive Officer
Essar Energy plc, the India-focused integrated energy company, today announced the appointment of Mr Sushil Maroo as Chief Executive Officer and a director of Essar Energy following the decision by Mr Naresh Nayyar, the current Chief Executive Officer, to step down. Mr Nayyar will, however, be appointed as a member of the Essar Corporate Centre, an oversight advisory committee. Both appointments are effective from September 16, 2013, said in the company's press release.
Mr Sushil Maroo has most recently served as Deputy Managing Director and a board director of Jindal Steel and Power Limited and has also served as a Deputy Managing Director of Jindal Power Limited since 2008. Mr Maroo has 30 years business experience covering strategy, business operations, mergers and acquisitions, and project and corporate finance. He joined Jindal Steel and Power Limited in 2001 and played a critical role in the group’s financial planning and strategic growth. Prior to the Jindal Group, Mr Maroo worked with other large corporate institutions such as Hindustan Lever, Voltas Limited (Tata Group), Nippon Dendro Ispat Limited (Mittal Group) and Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (Birla Group). Mr Maroo is a chartered accountant and has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Rajasthan.
Mr Nayyar has held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Essar Energy plc since March 2010 and was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Essar Oil Limited from October 2007 to December 2011. Mr Nayyar has been instrumental in overseeing the growth of Essar Energy since its IPO in May 2010, which has seen refining capacity grow from 260,000 barrels per day throughput to 741,000 barrels per day, and power capacity grow from 1,220 MW to 3,910 MW. Mr Nayyar has almost 40 years of experience in the energy sector in India.
The Nominations and Governance Committee of the Board has in place plans for the succession of Board directors and other senior executive positions. The Committee had been looking at the options for a new Chief Executive Officer as Mr Nayyar, 62, had indicated a desire to take a step back from day to day operations and that he was prepared to remain in the role until a suitable replacement had been identified. Following the identification of Mr Maroo, Mr Nayyar has now notified his intention to step down from the Board of Essar Energy.
Commenting on the changes, Mr Prashant Ruia, Chairman of Essar Energy, said that he was delighted to welcome Mr Maroo to Essar Energy and wished both Mr Maroo and Mr Nayyar every success in their new roles. “Mr Maroo has a strong track record of business operations and providing strategic and financial advice across a number of industries. His hands on experience of the power business in India will be of great value to Essar Energy. Mr Nayyar has provided excellent leadership to Essar Oil and Essar Energy over the last six years. We are pleased that he has agreed to continue to provide business performance support and guidance to Essar Energy in his new role with Essar’s Corporate Centre.” “Essar Energy has seen massive growth over the last few years and as the business focus moves to asset optimisation and strengthening the balance sheet we have in place a very strong management team to continue to deliver improved performance and value for our stakeholders.”