Birla Corp shareholders approve management supported resolution at AGM

Kolkata-based M P Birla Group on Friday said shareholders of its flagship firm Birla Corporation Ltd have approved resolutions supported by the management with overwhelming majority at its AGM

Kolkata-based M P Birla Group on Friday said shareholders of its flagship firm Birla Corporation Ltd have approved resolutions supported by the management with overwhelming majority at its annual general meeting (AGM).

At the same time, the shareholders also rejected a proposal by investment firm Punjab Produce and Trading Co Ltd (PPTCL) to appoint Rameshwar Singh Thakur as a non-executive, non-independent director of the company at the AGM held on Wednesday.

Among the resolutions approved by the shareholders include, re-appointment of Dilip Ganesh Karnik as director; appointment of Arvind Pathak as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company for a period of 3 years with effect from March 31, 2021.

Karnik's appointment was approved with 68.07 per cent votes in favour and 31.93 per cent against, while Pathak's appointment received 99.99 per cent votes in favour and 0.006 per cent against, according to a regulatory filing by the company.

On the other hand, the proposal to appoint Rameshwar Singh Thakur as director was rejected with 70.34 per cent votes against and 29.66 per cent in favour, the filing added.

The resolutions supported by the management have all been carried by overwhelming majority, the group said in a statement.

"A vast majority of shareholders from among financial institutions and retail investors voted overwhelmingly in support of Birla Corporation Ltd's management and helped defeat attempts to disrupt the company's operations. Investors have clearly demonstrated their faith in the leadership of chairman Harsh Vardhan Lodha," Fox & Mandal Partner Debanjan Mandal said on behalf of the group.

The development comes in the midst of the battle between the Birlas and the Lodhas, which has been ongoing for the last 17 years over the control of the Rs 5,000 crore Birla Estate, ever since the death of Priyamvada Devi Birla, wife of M P Birla.

The bone of contention is the "purported will" of late Priyamvada Devi Birla executed in July 1982, which is alleged to have transferred the shares of the M P Birla group, collectively called as the Birla Estate, in favour of late Rajendra Singh Lodha, the father of Harsh Vardhan.

Last week, shareholders of the group's three listed cable companies -- Vindhya Telelinks Ltd, Universal Cables Ltd and Birla Cable Ltd -- had voted against appointments of directors proposed by the investment firm PPTCL.

PPTCL had filed nominations seeking appointments of two directors on the boards of all the three cable companies. In case of Vindhya Telelinks and Universal Cables, PPTCL had proposed appointments of DR Agarwal and SK Chakrabarti as directors, with the latter's nomination being proposed to replace Karnik as director.

As far as Birla Cable was concerned, PPTCL had proposed appointments of DR Agarwal and Satish Pradhan as directors with the latter being proposed to replace HV Lodha, who is the chairman of the group.