Air conditioning and commercial refrigeration maker Blue Star announced the appointment of Shailesh Haribhakti as its Chairman. The Board has unanimously approved the appointment of Haribhakti as the Chairman of Blue Star with effect from April 1, 2019. He succeeded Suneel M Advani, who retired from the Board on March 31, 2019 in accordance with the retirement policy for Non-Executive Directors. In its 75 years of existence, Blue Star maintained the tradition of being ahead of the curve in terms of corporate governance, much before the very terminology came into vogue. Shailesh Haribhakti joined the Board of Blue Star in 2005 as an Independent Director and is the first professional, Independent Chairman in the history of the company.
He is a renowned Chartered Accountant, and among India’s leading authorities on audit and tax related matters. He is actively involved with several prominent financial institutions and industry bodies, including the NSE, CII, IMC and ASSOCHAM. He is a certified public accountant, certified internal auditor, financial planner, cost accountant and fraud examiner. He is an independent Board member or chairman of a number of leading Indian companies including L&T Finance Holdings Limited, Mahindra Lifespaces, Future Lifestyle and ACC Limited.
