A Vellayan new chief of Murugappa

CHENNAI: The Murugappa Group���s long-time executive chairman M A Alagappan, 65, is retiring this October. He will be succeeded by A Vellayan, the present vice-chairman and director (Strategy) of the Murugappa Corporate Board (MCB).
M M Murugappan, a director on the board will take over the vice-chairman post. N Srinivasan, director (Finance) and Sridhar Ganesh, director (Human Resources) will continue to head their respective functions in the corporate board.Deepak Satwalekar, Venkatraman Thyagarajan and Sridar Iyengar will continue as independent directors of the board.
MCB is a non-statutory board which oversees the operations of the $3-billion group. It comprises both family members and professionals. Each member is given a portfolio and all companies are guided by the MCB.
A Vellayan brings with him vast experience in managing diverse businesses. He is the chairman of EID Parry Coromandel Fertilisers. Vellayan was seen as the man who was pushing for expansion and thereafter consolidation of the agri-business.