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Nani Palkhivala retires as chairman of ACC

Nani Palkhivala has relinquished charge as the chairman of Associated Cement Companies Limited after a long innings spanning more than 26 years.

The company board has appointed him as chairman emeritus of the cement giant in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the company.

Pallonji S Mistry will be the new chairman of the company.

The longest serving member on the board of ACC, Mistry earlier served as the chairman from September 24, 1977, to July 26, 1979, when Palkhivala was the Indian ambassador to the United States. Mistry was elected a director of the company in 1956 and became vice-chairman in 1969. He served as the vice-chairman since 1979, when Palkivala returned to take charge as chairman of the company.

A leading industrialist, Mistry has been on the board of several Tata companies in India and abroad. He is also the chairman of Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Ltd, and other organisations in that group.

At the company's board meeting held in Bombay on Wednesday, the board placed on record its admiration and deep gratitude for Palkhivala for his outstanding contribution to the company.

A resolution was adopted by the board describing Palkhivala as an ardent advocate of the free economy, who effectively used the annual statements to shareholders as a vehicle to highlight the socio-economic problems of the country and, in particular, the problems faced by the company and other cement manufacturers with regard to government policies.

"His (Palkhivala's) consistent and eloquent pleas against the utter futility of stifling controls were at last vindicated, when the government initiated the process of decontrol of cement in February 1982 and lifted all controls in March 1989, resulting in the most dramatic and unprecedented growth for the industry with cement being freely available to the consumer at a reasonable price," the resolution added.

UNI