Lafarge CEO to takeover as Bata's non-exec chairman

Lafarge managing director and CEO Uday Khanna is set to takeover as the non-executive chairman of the board of Bata India.

"I will be taking over as the new chairman in July," Khanna said on the sidelines of the company's 78th AGM held today.

The present chairman PM Sinha, who took over in 2004, has decided to move out.

The company witnessed a turnaround during Sinha's tenure, but at the same time there was sharp reduction in permanent employees both at factory and at the store level.

Asked about rumours on Bata takeover, Sinha described them as totally baseless and said there was no such plan.

He said the company had decided to move aggressively in the rural market in order to achieve organic growth.

"We want to penetrate deep into rural market, distributing our products in the new 140 tier II and tier III cities. We are also introducing 2-3 new sub-brands focused on rural taste," Sinha said.

A special management and sales team will be created to cater to the rural market. The company will also open 70-80 new stores across India to expand its footprint.