Avinash Vashistha to head Accenture's India operations

Vashistha has also been appointed co-chairman of the India operations, along with current MD Harsh Manglik.

Manglik, who intends to retire later this year, has been Chairman and MD of Accenture India since September 2006.

"Avinash brings to this role more than two decades of operational and execution leadership in global outsourcing ... He will help us drive growth in our domestic business and support our global clients through our Global Delivery Network centers in India," Accenture Chief
Executive Officer Pierre Nanterme said.

Vashistha, 49, joins Accenture from Tholons, a global strategic advisory firm for outsourcing, research, investment and education, where he served as founder, chairman and CEO.

With global revenues of nearly USD 22 billion (for the fiscal ended August 31, 2010),
Accenture, however, has trailed global rivals like IBM in bagging outsourcing contracts in India. It has about 2.11 lakh employees globally serving clients in more than 120 countries.

"I look forward to building on that foundation and increasing Accenture's domestic presence and leadership," Vashistha said.

Earlier in his career, Vashistha founded an offshore advisory firm neoIT. Prior to that, he led Nortel's pioneering outsourcing efforts in India.