Shyam group promoter Rajiv Mehrotra elected to Sistema Board

Russian conglomerate Sistema has formed a joint venture with Shyam Telecom and has a pan-Indian licence to offer mobile services in India.

The election of Mehrotra was approved by Sistema's shareholders during their Annual General Meeting held on June 27, the Russian firm said in a statement on Monday.

Mehrotra became the first Indian to get elected to the Board of Directors of a Russian telecom firm.

"This is indeed a privilege. I see this as an opportunity to take the dynamism of our experience in India to our partners abroad and I look forward to contribute immensely to Sistema's huge telecom business across the world," Mehrotra said.

"I look forward to exciting times ahead," he said.

"The AGM approved the election of three new members to the Board of Directors: Leonid Melamed, President and CEO of Sistema; Rajiv Mehrotra, member of the Board of Directors of Sistema Shyam Teleservices; Robert Kocharyan, an independent director," the statement said.

With the election of three new people, the Board's strength has been expanded to 13, including four independent non-executive directors.

Mehrotra is CMD of the Shyam Group. Sistema's Board has appointed Vladimir Evtushenkov as the Chairman.

Sistema Shyam Teleservices has already launched CDMA- based mobile services in various parts of the country and is in process to cover pan-Indian footprint.

The company also plans to acquire GSM frequency under the dual spectrum clause and offer mobile services on both platforms as being done by Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices.