Grasim Industries Appoints Ashvin Parekh & Haigreve Khaitan as Independent Directors
On May 22, 2024, the Board of Directors of Grasim Industries Limited approved the appointments of Ashvin Parekh and Haigreve Khaitan as Independent Directors for five years, with effect from August 23, 2024, and September 26, 2024, respectively. The Board has also approved the appointment of Mukkavilli Jagannath as Non-Executive Director with effect from September 26, 2024. All three appointments are subject to the approval of the members of the company.
The tenure of Cyril Shroff and Thomas M. Connelly, Jr., as Independent Directors, shall come to an end on August 22, 2024. Also, Raj Kumar, Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director, who is liable to retire by rotation at the forthcoming annual general meeting of the company, has not offered himself for reappointment.
Ashvin Parekh set up the advisory service company, Ashvin Parekh Advisory Services LLP (APAS), in June 2013. Parekh retired as a Senior Partner from Ernst & Young in June 2013. He was with EY for 8 years. He has also held senior positions at Arthur Anderson, Price Waterhouse Coopers, KPMG India, KPMG UK, KPMG Dubai, and Hindustan Lever. He has been working closely with the government of India. In the last 10 years, he has been on nine committees set up by the Ministry of Finance. He has been a member of several committees set up by the RBI, IRDAI, and SEBI. He was also a member of the selected Expert Committee of the RBI (K V Kamath Committee) for the Resolution Framework for COVID-19-related Stress. Earlier, he was the Chairman of the Board of the National Pension Scheme (NPS) in India from 2017 to 2020. Prior to that, he had been a trustee of the NPS since 2015.
Haigreve Khaitan is the Managing Partner at Khaitan & Co., overseeing the firm’s strategic growth. With over 30 years of experience, Khaitan has led high-profile cases across industries in India. As a strategic advisor, he devises innovative solutions for legal and regulatory challenges, including M&A, restructurings, and disputes. He actively contributes to policy-making bodies, such as the Competition Commission of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India. He has received numerous accolades, including recognition by Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, and Who’s Who Legal, and has been named an “Eminent Practitioner” and “Elite Thought Leader” in M&A. He serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Boards of several Indian companies, including Jio Platforms, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Mahindra & Mahindra, CEAT, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, PVR INOX, and Borosil Renewables.
Mukkavilli Jagannath has been an MD of the Life Insurance Corporation of India since March 13, 2023. He joined LIC as a direct recruit officer. He has over three decades of experience. Before taking charge of the current assignment, he was the Zonal Manager (in charge) of the South Central Zone, responsible for driving performance on vital metrics. Earlier, he was Head of Bancassurance for the South Central Zone and, thereafter, the Regional Manager (Marketing) of the same zone at Hyderabad and Bangalore locations. He also held the helm of Ernakulam, Dharwad, and Bangalore-I Divisions in his earlier role as Senior Divisional Manager. His international experience comes from his tenure as CEO and MD of LIC (Lanka). He is a Commerce graduate with a CA (inter) and holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Marketing and an International Post-Graduate Diploma in Life Insurance, General Insurance, and Risk Management from the Institute of Insurance and Risk Management (IIRM), Hyderabad. He is an Associate of the Insurance Institute of India, Mumbai.
