Hyderabad 16th March 2017: The Board of Directors of Amara Raja Batteries Ltd (ARBL), has appointed Mr. S Vijayanand as Chief Executive Officer, effective 1st April 2017.
Mr. S Vijayanand, aged 50 years, is currently the CEO of Amara Raja Power Systems Ltd, which is part of the Amara Raja Group. He started his career in 1990 with a brief stint with Hindustan Unilever limited as a Research Scientist and joined Amara Raja Group in the year 1992. He held various positions across the Organisation in the areas of Business leadership, Strategic Planning, New business development initiatives, Technology development, Project Management etc. He held the position of Vice President & SBU Head of the Industrial Batteries Division of ARBL before he took up the assignment as CEO of Amara Raja Power Systems Limited in 2011.
He holds a B. Tech Degree in Chemical Engineering from SVU college of Engineering, Tirupati and M. Tech in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. During his stint in Amara Raja Group, he has completed the programme on “General Management and Leadership Development” from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Vijayanand is currently Chairman of Battery Society of India and is actively promoting the adoption of new and emerging technologies in the field of renewable energy and alternative battery chemistries.
Dr Ramachandra N Galla, Founder Chairman of Amara Raja Group and Chairman of ARBL said: “I am pleased to welcome Vijayanand into ARBL as its CEO. Vijayanand is a promising leader with expertise in Battery technology, operations, project management and business development. Welcoming Vijayanand, Mr Jayadev Galla, Vice Chairman and Managing Director said, “Vijayanand is one amongst our many successful leaders within the Group and his experience and performance in various roles within the Group will be invaluable. I am confident that Vijayanand, through ‘The Amara Raja Way’ will bring to our team new insights, a new momentum and contribute to accelerating the achievement of our Vision”
Vijayanand about his appointment said: “I am very pleased to take up the role of CEO at ARBL. I am proud and motivated to lead the ARBL team whose tremendous energy and commitment levels are well respected. I am looking forward to many exciting opportunities in the battery business and would be able to contribute, learn and better the overall performance and leadership of the business.”
Amara Raja Batteries Limited, a company with 26% equity each from Galla Family and Johnson Controls Inc, USA, is the technology leader and is one of the largest manufacturers of lead acid batteries for both industrial and automotive applications in the Indian storage battery industry. In India, Amara Raja is the preferred supplier to major telecom service providers, Telecom equipment manufacturers, UPS sector (OEM & Replacement), Indian Railways and to Power, Oil & Gas among other industry segments. The industrial battery brands of Amara Raja are PowerStack