Tom Albanese appointed as Vedanta CEO

Indian diversified miner Vedanta Resources has appointed former Rio Tinto ceo Tom Albanese as its new chief executive

Albanese left Rio at the beginning of 2013 after a tough year for the company in 2012, in which it reported $14 billion of writedowns.

He will take over as ceo of Vedanta and join the Vedanta board from April 1, the company said, succeeding MS Mehta, who is retiring at the end of March.

Albanese has been working with Vedanta since September last year as chairman of subsidiary Vedanta Resources Holdings Ltd.

Vedanta has said it also plans to recommend to the Sesa Sterlite Ltd board the appointment of Albanese as ceo of that company, after the end of Mehta's term.

"Tom Albanese's skills and experience in leading world-class mining companies will be of great value in supporting our strategic objective of creating sustainable long-term value for all our stakeholders," Anil Agarwal, chairman of Vedanta, said in a statement.

"[He] will lead all the businesses of our group companies. The board remains committed to delivering against our stated key strategic priorities of optimising our operations, strengthening our balance sheet and further simplifying the Vedanta Group structure."

He also thanked Mehta for his leadership at the company.

"Vedanta is a world class business and I'm honoured to be working with Anil and the Board as we lead Vedanta in the next phase of its development," Albanese added.

"My focus as ceo will be on operational excellence, efficient cost management and sustainability to drive long term value for all our stakeholders. I also look forward to supporting Anil and the board in implementing the strategic ambitions of the Vedanta Group."