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| Nilekani to step down from Infosys Board |
| BS Reporter / Bangalore Jun 25, 2009, 14:30 IST |
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 Three weeks after celebrating his 55th birthday, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is stepping down from the Board of Infosys Technologies, which he co-founded with Narayana Murthy and five others during 1981.
Nilekani will shortly the don as Chairman of an IT-driven government program, having been picked personally by the country's prime minister Manmohan Singh to head an ambitious project which will involve every citizen having an unique biometric identity card. Industry estimates indicate that the project will be worth atleast Rs 10,000 crore and Infosys will bid for it.
As a result of being the Chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Nilekani will be stepping down from the Board of Infosys Technologies, effective June 9, 2009.
Infosys Technologies, India's second largest software services exporter, announced on Thursday that Nandan M Nilekani, will relinquish the position of Co-Chairman and Member of the Board at Infosys.Infosys is yet to announce a replacement for this position.
The legendary tale of 6 technology professionals starting Infosys with a seed-fund of around Rs 10,000 is a well-chronicled one in the entrepreneurial context in India and Nilekani and his team has been striving hard to spread that in India.
Nilekani along with family members hold 3.45 per cent stake in Infosys which has a market capitalisation of little over Rs 91,000 crore. It is not yet clear how Nilekani will handle this stake, if Infosys were to bid for this project.
Industry analysts indicate that with Infosys having been among the pioneers of adopting high levels of transparency in corporate disclosures, Nilekani will certainly find a way of managing this issue which will leave no doubts in any one's mind.
The Board of Directors of Infosys accepting Nilekani's resignation placed on record its deep sense of appreciation for the services rendered by Nilekani as a co-founder, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, and as the Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Nilekani has served as a director on the company’s board since its inception in 1981. Between March 2002 and June 2007, he served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. Thereafter, he was re-designated as the Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors. Infosys is yet to appoint a replacement from the post of co-chairman.
Nilekani an alumnus of IIT-Bombay from the 1978 batch, has been active in public life involving himself in various governance aspects. He is a member of the National Knowledge Commission and also part of the National Advisory Group on e-Governance. He is also a member of the review committee of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. He took over as the elected President of NCAER (the premier, independent, applied economics research institute in India) in April 2008.
Nandan has been involved in various initiatives of the central and state governments. He was the Chairman of the Government of India’s IT Task Force for power. Nandan has also served as a member of the subcommittee of the Securities and Exchange Board of India that dealt with issues related to Insider Trading, and as a member of the Reserve Bank of India’s Advisory Group on corporate governance.
Speaking on the occasion, N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor, said, “We are glad that an extraordinary individual like Nandan has got an opportunity to add value to India through this position. As a company that has always put the interest of the society ahead of itself, Infosys will accept his absence with a sense of duty to a larger cause, but with deep sadness at the departure of one of her most illustrious sons. We, the Infoscions, wish him the best in his new assignment”.
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