Saroj K Poddar President	Habil Khorakiwala Sr. Vice-President	N Srinivasan Vice- President

SAROJ K PODDAR TAKES OVER AS PRESIDENT OF FICCI

HABIL KHORAKIWALA BECOMES SR VICE PRESIDENT

N SRINIVASAN ELECTED AS VICE PRESIDENT

December 25, 2005, (3.15 P.M.), New Delhi : Mr Saroj K Poddar, Chairman, Gillette India Ltd, has taken over as President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). He took over as President at the conclusion of the 78th Annual Session of FICCI in the capital today.

Mr Poddar is the Chairman of Poddar Heritage Enterprises. Under Mr Poddar, the group has promoted various new projects including several joint ventures with leading international corporates such as Gillette India Pvt Ltd - a joint venture with the Gillette Company of USA; Duracell India Pvt Ltd - a joint venture with Duracell International Inc; Simon India Ltd - a joint venture with Simon Carves of UK. Mr Poddar is also the Chairman of Alstom Group of Companies. This includes Alstom Ltd and Alstom (India) Ltd.

Mr Habil Khorakiwala has been elected as Sr Vice President of FICCI. Mr Khorakiwala is the Chairman of Wockhardt Limited, one of the leading Indian pharmaceutical and healthcare companies in India. He is the President of Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance which is the industry association of the top 12 Indian pharmaceutical companies. He has received many prestigious awards such as Award for Excellence as top CEO for the year 2002 at the 29th World Marketing Congress and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2004 in the 'Healthcare and Life Sciences' category.

Mr N Srinivasan has been elected as Vice President of FICCI. Mr Srinivasan is the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of India Cements Ltd, a major corporate entity in the South with a turnover of over Rs 1200 crores.

Mr Srinivasan is a post graduate in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, USA. He was the Sheriff of Madras for two terms. Over the last decade, he has been the President of Cement Manufacturers Association and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Council for Cement and Building Materials. Mr Srinivasan is presently the President of Cement Manufacturers' Association.

Mr Srinivasan is an ardent cricket lover and is the Treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He is also the President of the All India Chess Federation and Tamil Nadu Golf Federation.

Media Division