Meet Sharad Mehrotra, Telenor India’s new CEO

Telenor India has appointed Sharad Mehrotra as its new CEO. He will take up the post vacated by Vivek Sood who has been promoted as executive vice president and chief marketing officer in Telenor Group.

Both appointments will be effective from November 1, 2015.

Sharad has extensive knowledge about the Indian telecom market, and international experience from other Telenor operations, said Sigve Brekke, president and chief executive officer of Telenor Group, adding “I am confident that he will return to India with strong ambition to further develop the company as a profitable operator, and the preferred choice for the mass market."

Mehrotra was part of India management of Uninorn from 2008 till 2013. He was head of Telenor Group's Asia distribution program driving regional synergies and scale. Later, he moved to Myanmar to launch services in the country. As CEO of Telenor India, Sharad will also be a member of Telenor Group's executive management.

The company has launched free insurance for every Telenor India customer last week.

Commenting about his appointment, Mehrotra said: "India is one of the most competitive mobile markets in the world, and Telenor India has rapidly grown into a top position in the areas where we operate. I look forward to work with Telenor India's passionate and highly dedicated team to continue being best on basic services and deliver internet for all."

In his new role at Telenor Group, Sood will be responsible for strengthening Telenor Group's focus and ability to improve customer journeys, ensure continued innovation, and create value from digital data growth.

Earlier, Sood was chief executive officer of Grameenphone, the largest mobile operator in Bangladesh. Under him, Grameenphone crossed the 50 million customer milestone and became first country within the Telenor Group to do so, the group said in a statement.

(Image: Reuters)