Indian Outsourcer Mahindra Satyam Gets New CEO

Mahindra Satyam, a rebranded Indian outsourcing company nearly brought down in a $1 billion fraud, said Tuesday that C.P. Gurnani, an executive from its new controlling shareholder, has been appointed chief executive.

Gurnani, 50, currently heads global operations at Tech Mahindra, a mid-sized Indian telecommunications outsourcing firm which won a bid in April to buy a controlling stake in Satyam Computer Services Ltd. — officially rechristened Mahindra Satyam on Sunday.

Satyam Computer’s future was in doubt earlier this year after its founder B. Ramalinga Raju confessed to a $1 billion fraud that had inflated the company’s profits over several years.

Prior to joining Tech Mahindra, Gurnani was chief operating officer of Perot Systems India Ltd., the Indian subsidiary of Perot Systems, an information technology firm founded by two-time presidential candidate Ross Perot.

Tech Mahindra also got a new chief executive: Sanjay Kalra, 46, who is currently president of strategic initiatives at the company.

S. Durgashankar, currently senior vice president for mergers and acquisitions at Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., which holds a majority stake in Tech Mahindra, will become chief financial officer of Mahindra Satyam.

“Mahindra Satyam has four immediate priorities: to strengthen corporate governance, enhance customer delight, regain market share, and build the brand. I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead the organization toward those objectives, and I am confident we will succeed,” Gurnani said in a statement.

6/23/2009 7:55 AM ERIKA KINETZ AP Business Writer MUMBAI, India