Gautam Thapar, vice-chairman and managing director of Ballarpur Industries Ltd, has been co-opted on the board of the Canada-based Bata International. Bata International board is the nodal body that runs Bata's worldwide shoe business.
"I have been invited by Thomas Bata to join the board," Thapar told Business Standard. Thapar is travelling to Toronto later this month to attend his first meeting of the Bata International board.
Though Thapar did not elaborate on his role, it is learnt that he will help the company iron out any issue faced by Bata in India.
This isn't the first time that an Indian corporate head is joining a global board. Earlier, Tarun Das, director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry, was appointed on the 12-member International Advisory Board of the Atlanta-based The Coca-Cola Company.
Apart from the companies belonging to the L M Thapar and B M Thapar groups, Thapar is also on the board of a few other companies including Asahi India, India's largest automotive glass company, and infrastructure consultancy outfit Feedback Ventures in which he is also a stakeholder.
Thapar is credited with turning around Bilt, the country's largest paper company, through a combination of divestment of non-core investments, acquisitions, financial discipline and brand building.
Bilt is amongst the top 15 paper companies in Asia. Apart from Bilt, Thapar is also involved in the running of B M Thapar group companies such as Solaris Chemicals (earlier Bilt Chemicals), Crompton Greaves and Greaves.
