One board seat can't alter company's course: Sona MD Vivek Vikram Singh

Sona BLW MD Vivek Vikram Singh dismisses concerns over a new director's appointment, stating it does not affect the company's functioning or growth

A single director’s nomination on a nine-member board, where six are independent, does not affect the functioning or control of the company, said Vivek Vikram Singh, managing director (MD) of Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd (Sona Comstar), calling the suggestion that it could do so “very bizarre” during a post-results analyst call on Monday.

 

Singh was responding to concerns raised after the recent appointment of Priya Sachdev Kapur, wife of late chairman Sunjay Kapur, as a non-executive director — a move that was opposed by Rani Kapur, mother of Sunjay Kapur. In a letter to the board on July 24, Rani alleged she had not nominated anyone to represent the Kapur family on the board, and claimed she was coerced into signing documents following her son’s death on June 12.

 

Singh on Monday told the analysts: “How one director's appointment, out of a nine-member board wherein six are independent board members, makes any difference to the running of the company is very bizarre to me."

 

“But for some reason, the press of India thinks it is a very pertinent question to answer. I don't know how it affects the company's growth, company's operations or the management,” he added. 

 

The company had earlier rejected Rani’s claims as “baseless” and “legally untenable”, stating that she has had no role, direct or indirect, in the company since at least 2019. “She is neither a shareholder, director, nor officer of the company,” Sona Comstar had said in a regulatory filing.

 

Clarifying the shareholding structure, Singh said about 72 per cent of Sona Comstar’s shares are held by institutional and public investors, including mutual funds, foreign institutional investors (FIIs), and retail shareholders. The remaining 28 per cent is held by promoter entity Aureus Investment Private Ltd, which is owned by the R K Family Trust. “There is one single beneficiary, which is Sunjay Kapur,” Singh said.

 

He added that while any large shareholder such as Aureus can nominate a director, the nomination must first be accepted by the board and then approved by a majority of shareholders before the appointment is confirmed.

 

Sona Comstar reported a 14.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) drop in consolidated net profit to ₹121.7 crore for the first quarter of 2025-26 (Q1FY26), citing geopolitical pressures such as tariff issues with the US and rare-earth magnet supply crunch from China.