Ex-Oracle India MD Bhaskar Pramanik Is Microsoft India Chairman

Microsoft Inc today formally announced that Bhaskar Pramanik, who left his position as Managing Director, Oracle India on March 3, is the Chairman for Microsoft India. It was rumoured that he was to join Microsoft, following the exit of Ravi Venkatesan, the chairman and corporate vice president of Microsoft, in February.

"These are indeed very exciting times for the IT industry, as well as for India. And I am excited to be part of a company that has such a wide play across industries, segments, products and services. I look forward to partnering with the business leaders and the entire Microsoft team to grow our business in India and enable the success of all our stakeholders," said Pramanik, who joined Microsoft today. His responsibilities as Chairman of one of the world's largest IT companies include heading the company's sales, marketing and services businesses in India and a broad-level control of all its assets. He will also lead the company's 'citizenship agenda' in close alignment with India's national priorities, the company has said in a media release issued today.

Pramanik will report to Jean-Philippe Courtois, President of Microsoft International. "Bhaskar comes to Microsoft with a strong reputation as a business leader and organization builder. His deep experience and understanding of the Indian IT industry will be critical to continuing to build our leadership in India, as well as enriching our relationships with customers, partners and government," said Jean-Philippe Courtois, President of Microsoft International.

Pramanik was the Managing Director at Oracle India between April 2010 and March 2011. In a previous stint, he led Sun Microsystems for 13 years as its Managing Director in India and later on as its Global Vice President, Commercial Systems. Pramanik grew Sun Microsystems' business in India from under $20M to over $200M in six years and witnessed its employee strength growing from 24 to more than 1200 people. He is also active in industry bodies including NASSCOM, AMCHAM and CII.