BWI: Astonfield Forms Global Advisory Board with International Cross-Industry Leaders

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Astonfield Renewable Resources
Wednesday, June 02, 2010 03:28 PM IST (09:58 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, People; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Energy companies, Media & entertainment
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Astonfield Forms Global Advisory Board with International Cross-Industry Leaders
Viren Doshi of Booz & Company and Subimal Bhattacharjee of General Dynamics Joins Impress Board

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Wednesday, June 02, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- Astonfield Renewable Resources is pleased to announce the formation of its Global Advisory Board, consisting of senior industry leaders representing a diverse mix of energy, operational and finance executives. Included in this impressive Board are ; Viren Doshi, Senior Partner & Head of Global Energy, Chemicals and Utilities at Booz & Company; Subimal Bhattacharjee, India's Country Head of General Dynamics; Karlheinz Muhr, Chairman of Cenerio Capital Management and José María Rodríguez Paraja, Founder and former CEO of GA Solar. The Global Advisory Board will function in an advisory capacity, providing insight and advice on all core business areas including business development, technology partnerships and financing.

"We have assembled a talented group of industry leaders to help us accelerate our growth and advise us as our business continues to evolve. Not only do they bring a deep understanding of the global energy and financing markets, their combined knowledge and expertise will be invaluable as we continue our rapid growth and begin commissioning renewable energy power plants throughout India. At Astonfield, we strive to deliver global best-practices in every aspect of our business and the formation of this impressive board will further build on those strengths," stated Ameet Shah, Co-Chairman, Astonfield Renewable Resources.

Karlheinz Muhr

Karlheinz Muhr is Chairman of Cenario Capital Management, a New York based asset and risk management firm focused on the institutional market place and Chairman of Factor Advisors, an exchange traded products platform to facilitate Factor investments. Mr. Muhr brings to Astonfield an unparalleled strategic perspective on global capital markets.

"Astonfield's unique approach of marrying global technology and capital with local execution expertise positions it well to sustain market leadership, and I look forward to sharing my experience."

Prior to Cenario, Mr. Muhr was a senior executive with Credit Suisse Group, where he served as a Chairman and Head of Credit Suisse Volaris, New York and Managing Director of the Asset Management Division. He was also a member of both the Chairman's Board and the Management Council of Credit Suisse. Mr. Muhr was Chairman and Founder of Volaris Advisors, an alternative asset management business focused solely on volatility prior to its acquisition by Credit Suisse First Boston in 2003.

Before Volaris, Mr. Muhr held a variety of senior positions at UBS Warburg, including Head of Global Credit Fixed Income, Head of Corporate Finance for the Americas and Member of the Management Committee for the Americas. From 1985 to 1995, he worked in both New York and London for Credit Suisse First Boston, heading Mortgage Derivative Trading, European Credit Fixed Income and Global Asset Swaps. He also served as a member of the European Executive Management Committee and the Global Fixed Income Committee. A native of Austria, Mr. Muhr has a Master's Degree from Vienna's University for Business and Economics and an M.B.A. from the Anderson School of Business at the University of California at Los Angeles. He also serves on the non-profit boards of The Institute for International Education (IIE), Washington DC, The Aspen Institute, Washington DC and Aspen, The Franz Klammer Foundation, Vienna, Austria and The Center of Capitalism and Society at Columbia University, New York.

Viren Doshi

Viren Doshi is a Senior Partner and the Head of Global Energy, Chemicals and Utilities at global consulting firm Booz & Company. Mr. Doshi brings to Astonfield over 30 years of strategic consulting experience leading strategy and operational transformations of global energy giants.

Mr. Doshi has significant experience advising clients on low carbon technology options. He led an operational turnaround to improve performance of a solar power manufacturing plant and a wind farm. In addition, Mr. Doshi developed a 5 year energy efficiency strategy for the largest oil company in China. He has also developed carbon capture and sequestration business strategies and project cases for a variety of clients.

Mr. Doshi is also a recognized thought leader on future global energy scenarios. He evaluated long term carbon emission trends by sector and region to analyze the impact of different regulatory mechanisms.

"Astonfield has the potential to fundamentally change the energy equation in the emerging markets. I look forward to joining the team to help it fulfill this tremendous potential."

Mr. Doshi also led a wargame for six client teams evaluating a variety of possible energy scenarios to determine optimal power generation investment strategies. Mr. Doshi has been honored for outstanding client service for his work at BP and has received Booz & Company's prestigious Professional Excellence Award (PEA). He is the author of the strategy + business articles, "No-Frills CRM" and "Making Mergers E-Merge."

Prior to joining Booz, Mr. Doshi conducted operational reviews of Exxon affiliates in Europe and Africa for Esso Europe, where he established his fundamental insights into downstream business segments, including retail and industrial marketing, distribution, special products processing, and refining. He also worked in systems engineering at ICL.
Mr. Doshi holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management and an honors degree in electronic engineering from Southampton University.

Subimal Bhattacharjee

Subimal Bhattacharjee is India's Country Head for General Dynamics International Corporation and brings to Astonfield deep experience and insight into the Indian market. Mr. Bhattacharjee has guided a number of General Dynamics' business units entering the Indian markets. General Dynamics is among the top five leading defence corporations in the world.

Mr. Bhattacharjee brings with him vast experience in business planning and strategy, particularly in India. With a deep understanding and fluency of India's gross domestic markets across land platforms, aerospace, naval systems and information systems and technology, Mr. Bhattacharjee has been instrumental in promoting General Dynamics interests in India.

"Astonfield's leadership has a highly sophisticated understanding of the Indian market and has developed a customer-focused strategy which will ensure continued rapid growth."

In addition to his work in the defence sector, Mr. Bhattacharjee is a widely recognized expert on critical infrastructure protection and cyber security. He has also been a member of key governmental advisory panels and industry task forces. A well-known columnist, Mr. Bhattacharjee writes on issues related to security and technology policies and has more than 165 published articles and papers on global internet governance and cyber security issues. He is also a globally recognized speaker on cyber security issues.

Mr. Bhattacharjee was born in Haflong, Assam in northeast India and holds a post-graduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Delhi. He is widely travelled and has keen interest in community matters and sports.

José María Rodríguez Paraja, Technical Advisor

José María Rodríguez Paraja is Technical Advisor to Astonfield's Board of Directors and advises management on technology and strategic issues relating to the company's solar activities. As a founding member of GA Solar, Mr. Paraja is a recognized leader and pioneer in the European solar industry.

"With the experience of starting and developing a large solar company myself, I can tell you first hand that Astonfield has built the right team and has the right ingredients to lead the build out of the solar industry in the next great markets- the developing nations."

In just three years at GA Solar, Mr. Paraja drove the company from start up to over 225MW of grid-connected projects, developed a pipeline of over 800MW, raised over a billion dollars in project financing and returned a profit in excess of $200 million. After positioning the company as a leader in the solar PV sector within Spain, Mr. Paraja then oversaw the expansion of its international business units, establishing operations in Italy, the United States and India. Successfully securing financing for all of GA Solar projects, Mr. Paraja comes to Astonfield with a deep understanding of the interworking of project financing for utility-scale projects.

Prior to GA Solar, he ran Gamesa Energia's sales and marketing department where he was responsible for all sales and trading activities in their Wind energy sector. He has also held managerial roles at Enron London-Madrid, Centrica Energia and BHP Billiton.

Mr. Paraja holds a Bachelors Degree in Law from the Universidad de Oviedo (Asturias), a Masters in Maritime Business and Law from the Universidad de Oviedo y el Instituto Europeo de Estudios Marítimos (Gijón) and a Masters in Finance and Tax from the Universidad de Oviedo (Oviedo).

About Astonfield Renewable Resources

Astonfield Renewable Resources is the largest multi-modality renewable energy company in South Asia. With a portfolio of nearly 1,000MW of solar, biomass and waste-to-energy projects, Astonfield is deploying affordable clean energy solutions in emerging markets across the world. For more information visit: http://www.astonfield.com.

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CONTACT DETAILS
Priyadarshini Sanjay, India Public Relations, Mercom Communications India, +91 (80) 22342856, media@astonfield.com
Wendy Prabhu, International Public Relations, Mercom Capital Group, 1.512.215.4452, media@astonfield.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, PEOPLE, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, ENERGY, MEDIA

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