Ravi Uppal, managing director and CEO of L&T Power, is set to join Cairn India, part of the $11-billion Vedanta Group. Uppal will succeed Rahul Dhir, who is leaving the company on August 31 after being at the helm for six years.
Sources in the know of the developments confirmed that Uppal would take over in September. When contacted, Uppal said this was “speculation” and did not want to comment further.
Uppal was the one of the most high-profile lateral recruitments by L&T and he joined L&T Power as managing director (MD) in January 2009. He was inducted into the board of the company within a year and was seen as a key contender for L&T MD & chief executive officer (CEO)’s position till the company surprised everybody by choosing K Venkataramanan for the top job earlier this year.
L&T Power has been facing cut-throat competition and lost to rivals in some large orders.
Uppal is an electrical engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. Before taking on his present responsibility with the L&T Group, Uppal was with the ABB Group where he spent 22 years and was the company’s president and a member of the group executive committee based in Switzerland. Prior to that, he was with auto major Volvo.
Uppal will be the latest CEO to join the million-dollar club with an annual salary of $1.5 million plus commissions and stock options.
Cairn India, which is engaged in the business of oil and gas exploration, has 10 blocks in India. The Mangala discovery is the largest onshore discovery seen in several years. After the Vedanta Group acquired a controlling stake in the company, the new management has ambitions of acquiring oil and gas assets both in India and in international markets.
