Wadias reorganising top order at Bombay Dyeing

The Wadia group chairman Nusli Wadia has initiated reorganisation of the top deck at its flagship firm Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Company. P V Kuppuswamy, the company’s joint managing director and head of the polyester stable fibre (PSF) division, has now been given additional charge of the textile and property divisions. “This has recently been intimated through an internal circular,” said a person close to the development, asking not to be named. Kuppuswamy, who managed the company’s dimethyl terepthalate (DMT) business for several years, faces the challenging task of re-invigorating the textile business under a difficult external environment. The company has also roped in S Rajappa as chief operating officer (COO) of the textile division. Rajappa has worked with several other textile majors before joining the Wadia flagship. Further, the textile division is expected to get a chief executive officer shortly. “Right now, the company is short listing people for the CEO’s post,” said the person. The textile business, which is focusing on the domestic market after export orders started drying up due to the global economic recession, has started a processing unit at Ranjangao in Maharashtra. When contacted, Wadia group spokesperson Caroli-na Bajaj declined to comment, saying she was not authorised to speak on this. The reorganisation started with the appointment of Durgesh Metha as the company’s chief finance officer (CFO) towards the end of last year. Metha was shifted from a group company Britannia Industries, where the Wadias have announced their intention to buy out their equal joint venture partner and French major Groupe Danone. Raju Thomas replaced Durgesh Mehta. Further, interviews are being conducted to appoint a CEO for the property division as well. Shantanu D, who joined from Tata Chemicals last year to head the human resources department, is spearheading the recruitment drive at Bombay Dyeing, which has around 1,000 employees on its rolls. Bombay Dyeing’s focus shifted to property business after the economic boom had resulted in spiralling demand for housing. The company, which owns several acres of land in the city’s prime areas, is planning to fill in vacancies created in the top management after some senior executives stepped down recently. The property division is constructing a 40-storey residential apartment at Spring Mills at central Mumbai’s Worli. “The project is nearing completion. The company’s focus is on the property business,” said a Bombay Dyeing official, on conditions of anonymity. R Kalaignanam, who was part of the DMT business for a number of years, was shifted last year to head the property business. Nusli Wadia’s elder son Ness, who is the company’s deputy managing director, is personally supervising the execution of the project.