Sunil Sood appointed Vodafone India CEO

Mumbai: Vodafone India Chief Operating Officer, Sunil Sood will take over as the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Vodafone India, the Board of Vodafone India on Thursday announced.  

The current MD, Marten Pieters will step down with effect from April 1, 2015and will be succeeded by Sood.

After stepping down, Pieters will continue to remain on the Board of Vodafone India in a non-executive capacity.

Pieters was appointed as Vodafone India Managing Director and Chief Executive in February 2009 after an international telecommunications career which included Board-level roles with KPN, Celtel and Millicom.

Under his leadership, Vodafone India doubled revenues, added more than 100 million customers, increased market share and launched data services used by more than 57 million customers.

The longest-serving Chief Executive of an Indian telecommunications company, he led Vodafone India’s participation in all spectrum auctions since 2009.

Pieters was appointed as the Chairman of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) in 2014.

His successor, Sood is currently the Vodafone India Chief Operating Officer.

He is responsible for day-to-day operations and P&L management together with new business development initiatives including the launch and expansion of mobile commerce activities.

Sood joined Vodafone India’s predecessor business, Hutch, in 2000 and held roles leading the company’s operations in Gujarat, Kolkata and Chennai.

He had previously worked for Pepsi in a range of Indian and international leadership roles. Mr Sood graduated with a B Tech from IIT (Delhi) and PGDM from IIM (Kolkata) and is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

The Chairman of the Board of Vodafone India, Analjit Singh, said,”Marten’s term as Chief Executive has been marked by outstanding business performance and exemplary leadership in a highly complex sector and operating environment.”

“Sunil has extensive operating experience and knows Vodafone India from within. He is therefore a great choice to grow and expand the business and I look forward to a successful transition,” Singh said on the new successor.

“Marten has been a fantastic leader in India and a wise and trusted contributor across the Group as a whole, Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said.