Shiv Nadar steps down, Roshni Nadar is HCL chief

New Delhi, July 17

The country’s richest woman Roshni Nadar Malhotra on Friday became the first woman to head a listed Indian IT company as she took over as the Chairperson of $8.9-billion HCL Technologies from her father and billionaire Shiv Nadar.

Roshni, also a trained classical musician, came on the Board of HCL Technologies in 2013 and was vice-chairperson. She will continue as CEO of HCL Corporation, the holding company for all the group entities.

On Friday, HCL Technologies announced that its founder and chairman Shiv Nadar stepped down from the role and the company’s Board of Directors has appointed his daughter, Roshni, as the new chairperson with immediate effect.

Shiv Nadar, however, would continue to be the Managing Director of the company with designation as Chief Strategy Officer, the company said.

HCL Technologies CEO C Vijayakumar said this was part of the company’s succession planning exercise.

Roshni studied at Vasant Valley School, Delhi and graduated in communication with a focus in radio/TV/film from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. She also pursued MBA from Kellogg School of Management.

She worked with Sky News UK and CNN America as a news producer before joining HCL Corp in 2009, and within a year was made executive director and then CEO at the age of 27.

According to the company website, Shiv Nadar is the chairman of the $9.9 billion HCL Corp. HCL Group includes HCL Technologies, HCL Infosystem, and HCL Healthcare. — PTI