Kiran Kumar Grandhi, the youngest son of GM Rao, has been appointed as corporate chairman of GMR Holdings, the apex body of GMR Group. The 38 year old Grandhi was earlier in-charge of the urban infrastructure and highways business. In the new role, he will be in charge of the corporate strategy, finance and sports businesses. He has been with GMR Group since 1996 and has played a key role in the development of the landmark Terminal 3 (T3) project at the Delhi International Airport. He was instrumental in bagging two critical international projects for the group, Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, and Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in Maldives. He led the development of India’s first private-public partnership green field airport project in Hyderabad.
Analysts are surprised by the timing, within two years of the previous revamp of the board. GMR Group said the swapping of roles between Grandhi and BVN Rao was for personal reasons and on the request of the latter. GMR had effected a rejig of its holding company board in September 2011, in which the roles of the two sons of GM Rao and the son-in-law were rotated, to give them exposure to all aspects of the groupÆs businesses. The company had made a restructuring in the mid-2007, too.
For Grandhi, the role of the corporate chairman has been chiselled and some other functions has been moved to another senior board member. Bringing Grandhi to a key corporate strategy role comes when the company is going through the throes of right-sizing itself as part of an "asset light, asset right" strategy.
It is looking aggressively at reining its debt, which is taking a toll on GMR Infra.
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