Event Over
Mr Vimal Mahendru is the President of Legrand Group in India. He assumed this role in September 2010 when Legrand acquired the switchgear business of Indo Asian Fusegear Limited (IAFL), the company where Vimal was the President-Corporate Affairs. In his present role, Vimal continues to guide the strategic initiatives of the company, and specially forays into new and emerging markets.
Vimal graduated as Bachelor of Engineering from the Thapar College of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, India, in 1985, specialized in Industrial Engineering.
Vimal did his MBA from the George Washington University, Washington D.C., in 1987 where he specialized in Marketing with emphasis on finance. He had a very fulfilling experience as a Graduate Assistant to one of the professors doing advanced research on valuation of capital markets.
Upon completing his studies, he joined M/s. Essex Engineering Inc., an organization involved in developing state-of-the-art, computerized vending machines. Here he was involved in marketing sophisticated computer controlled vending machines on the East Coast of the United States.
From 1989 to September 2010, Vimal was at IAFL in various capacities. Indo Asian Fusegear Limited was established way back in 1958 and is major player in the field of Low Voltage Switchgear and Lighting products. The company product range includes a wide range of Electrical Switchgear including – Miniature Circuit Breakers HRC Fuse Links Fuse Bases & Fittings Distribution Boards MCCBs ELCBs Feeder Pillars Switch Panels Switch Boards Fuse Switches, etc.
Vimal started with Indo Asian as Plant Head for the new joint venture the company as setting up with a German company. The JV was to manufacture specialized circuit breakers in India for the first time. The venture was a huge success and was the fastest growing German JV in India in the 90s.
In 1998, Vimal additionally took charge of developing the export markets for the company’s products. This took him travelling to all parts of Africa, Asia and Europe to understand customer needs, and accordingly develop products and services. Exports for the company have been a considerable success.
In 2005, Vimal took charge as head of corporate functions and was involved in a major exercise to professionalize the business and bring in greater corporate governance.
Vimal has been an active member of Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA, www.ieema.org) since 1997 and was the Chairman the highly success exhibition, Elecrama in 2008 (www.elecrama.com). IEEMA is the voice of the Electrical industry (www.ieema.org) and represents interests of companies manufacturing power generation, transmission, distribution and consumption equipments. Being a national body, the role is a highly visible one, and brings Mr Mahendru in close contact with policy makers, industrialists and entrepreneurs. He had been on the IEEMA Executive Council for 9 years. Having served as Vice President for two years, he has taken over as the President of the association in September 2010.
Mr Mahendru, besides being President of IEEMA, is on the governing board of several government and non-government bodies. Some of these are listed below
•Planning Commission: Sub-committee on Industrial Development, Member (http://planningcommission.nic.in/),
•Ministry of Industries, Development Council for Heavy Electrical and Allied Industries, Member (www.dhi.nic.in/)
•Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Central Consumer Protection Council, Member (www.fcamin.nic.in)
•Institute of Energy Management and Research, Advisory Board, Member (www.iemr.in/)
•Central Power Research institute, Governing Board, Member (www.cpri.in/)
•Quality Council of India, Governing Board, Member (http://qcin.org/)
•National Power Training Institute, Governing Council, Member (www.npti.in/)
•Bureau of Indian Standards, Task Force on New Standards, Member (www.bis.org.in/)
Mr Mahendru has been a member of seve
