S Girish Kumar assumes charge as HMT CMD

The government has appointed S Girish Kumar to the post of Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Bengaluru-based HMT Ltd for a period of five years.
Kumar assumed charge as the company's CMD today. The firm manufactures tractors and food processing machinery.
HMT comprises five subsidiaries under the ambit of a holding company, which also manages the tractors division directly. The five subsidiaries include HMT Machine Tools Ltd, HMT Watches Ltd, HMT Chinar Watches Ltd, HMT Bearings Ltd and HMT (International) Ltd.
However, the government in January last year decided to close three unviable units of HMT including the once popular HMT Watches, along with HMT Chinar Watches and HMT Bearings, by offering a voluntary retirement scheme to the employees as per 2007 pay scales.

Kumar will be expected to turn around the state-owned firm, which has been incurring losses.
HMT had earlier reported widening of its net loss to Rs 70.41 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2016 as against Rs 23.88 crore in the year-ago period.
Earlier, Kumar was holding additional charge of the post of CMD, HMT Ltd.
The appointment is "for a period of five years with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post or till the date of his superannuation or until further orders, whichever is earliest," HMT Ltd said in a regulatory filing.