K V Kamath is Infosys' new chairman, replaces NRN

Bangalore, Apr 30: As Infosys, the Indian IT giant that has sort of pioneered the new face of Indian economy, braces up for a change of guard in the top brass of its administration, the company's board has passed on the baton from the legendary Narayan Murthy to K V Kamath, the former chief of ICICI bank.

On Saturday, Apr 30 the board directors of the IT giant met to decide and eventually declare the name of Kamath as its chairman. The former chief of the ICICI bank, Kamath staved off a close fight the incumbent CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan. Another strong contender for the post was Chief Operating Officer and Member of the Board, SD Shibulal.

An elated Kamath said, "I feel greatly honoured to have been asked to be the Chairman of Infosys by the board of directors and accept this responsibility with a deep sense of humility." Waxing eloquent about his predecessor in the post, the former ICICI chief said, "Nobody can replace Murthy. Taking Murthy''s position is not possible for anybody. One can only be Chair of the Board but one can never be a Murthy."

Outgoing chairman and founder Mr Narayan Murthy said that the decision to appoint Kamath as his successor was "absolutely unanimous".

The software firm had begun its internal discussions on the size and composition of the board to face new challenges back in 2010 when Narayana murthy announced that he will relinquish from the post in Aug 2011.

Who is K V Kamath?

The non-executive Chairman of ICICI Bank, K V Kamath was appointed as an additional director to Infosys Technologies board of directors in May 2009. With a degree in mechanical engineering, Kamath also has a degree from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.

He worked with the ICICI bank, India's second largest private lender from 1971, and eventually retired in Apr 2009.

Kamath, who was named 'Businessman of the Year' by Forbes Asia and The Economic Times "Business Leader of the Year" in 2007, helped the ICICI group to mark its niche in the international level.

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