OREANDA-NEWS. Essar Energy plc [LSE: ESSR], the India-focused integrated energy company, announced the appointment of Mr. Deepak Maheshwari as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. P. Sampath, the current Chief Financial Officer, moves to a new role as the President of Business Optimization and Improvement for Essar Energy plc. Both appointments are effective from April 1, 2013.

Mr. Maheshwari most recently served as the Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Power Limited and has over 19 years of experience in project and corporate finance, investment banking and treasury management. He joined the Reliance Group in 2004 and played a critical role in leading the capital markets and financing and risk management requirements of the group. Prior to that, Mr. Maheshwari was Director Corporate Finance with ANZ Investment Bank in London and ICICI Securities in India. Mr Maheshwari has a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering from the Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Mumbai and MBAs from XLRI, Jamshedpur and the London Business School. At Essar Energy, he will report to Mr. Naresh Nayyar, Chief Executive Officer of Essar Energy plc.

Mr. Sampath has held the position of Chief Financial Officer of Essar Energy plc since September 2010 and prior to this was Chief Financial Officer and Director Finance of Essar Oil Limited from August 2008. Mr. Sampath previously held a number of senior finance positions including Group CFO for RPG Enterprises Limited and Managing Director of GHCL Limited. Mr. Sampath has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Madras University, is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Cost Works Accountants of India and is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He will continue to report to Mr. Nayyar.

Commenting on the appointments, Mr. Nayyar said that he was delighted to welcome Mr. Maheshwari to Essar Energy and wished both Mr. Maheshwari and Mr. Sampath every success in their new roles. “Mr. Maheshwari has a strong track record of providing strategic financial and capital markets advice across a number of industries. His deep understanding of the power business in India will also be of great value to Essar Energy and help to strengthen our senior management team,” said Mr. Nayyar.

“As we come to the end of our capital expenditure program, business optimization and improvement will be a key driver of value for Essar Energy and I am very pleased that we will be leveraging Mr. Sampath’s vast experience of working in various industries besides his knowledge of the Essar Energy businesses,” Mr. Nayyar added.

Both roles will be based in Mumbai, India.