Rahul Dhir quits as CMD of Cairn India

Moneycontrol Bureau

Cairn India's managing director and CEO Rahul Dhir, who has been the face of the organization for close to six years has put in his papers. Dhir's exit, marks the consolidation of Vedanta Resources $8.64 billion acquisition of the company from Cairn plc. Dhir is believed to be pursuing his entrepreneurial  interests.

The search for  Dhir's successor is underway and an announcement is expected soon, said the company in a press statement. During this intervening period, the Board has appointed  P. Elango, Director-- Strategy and Business Services and a member of Cairn India's executive committee, as the interim CEO since he has hands on experience in the sector.

Dhir, 46, a Wharton graduate and British national, had joined Cairn in 2006 from Merrill Lynch, where he headed the energy and power investment banking business. He has charted Cairn India’s course to a hugely successful IPO in India. Vedanta completed the formalities of the transaction in December'11, overcoming significant hurdles in its quest to get into the Indian oil and gas business. It was widely expected that Dhir would leave once the handover was complete and the company was on an even keel. He leaves just after Cairn India has reported its best ever quarterly performance with a 40% jump in its net profit.

Dhir is one of the highest paid, non-promoter CEOs in India topping the league tables with ESOPs valued at close to Rs 250 crore and a salary of Rs 12.3 crore last year, says a media report.

Meanwhile, Navin Agarwal, Tarun Jain and Priya Agarwal from the Vedanta group joined the Cairn India board as additional directors last December, Sunil Bohra, another senior Vedanta hand, had been brought in as the deputy chief financial officer. 

Cairn India has posted Q1 profits of Rs 3,826 crore compared to Rs 2,727 crore in the same period previous year as the Rajasthan block's output jumped by 40% to 175,000 barrels per day, Results in the first quarter of current financial year were boosted by higher crude oil output and currency gains. It plans to spend over $600 million over the next two years to further enhance output from the Rajasthan oilfields.