Nilekani to step down as Infosys board member, co-chairman

Nilekani to become chairperson of the new organisation, which will spend around $6 billion on developing smart cards

 

Nandan Nilekani is all set to step down as co-chairman and board member of Infosys Technologies after he takes over as the chairman of India's national project for creating a database of citizens. On Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited Nilekani to become chairperson of the new organisation, which will spend around $6 billion on developing smart cards apart from a mammoth citizen database.

 

Nilekani will enjoy the rank of a cabinet minister, and will also cease to be board member of Infosys, the company he founded along with NR Narayanmurthy and six others in 1981. "He will cease to be member of the board because he cannot hold a position in the government and also remain a board member," said TV Mohandas Pai, member of the board and director human resources, Infosys. This is not the first time Nilekani has been involved with a large project outside of Infosys. Few years ago, he co-founded and chaired the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF).

 

The national ID card project is expected to provide an impetus to the domestic demand for information technology products and solutions, and will help companies such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro gain more business at a time when their top export markets of US and Europe are under recession.

 

Source: The Economic Times