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Suren Goonewardene appointed as Non-Executive Chairman 

Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel yesterday announced the appointment of Jinesh Hegde as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/Managing Director (MD) of its Sri Lankan operations.

He takes on this role from Suren Goonewardene. In his new role, Jinesh will report to Bharti Airtel Director Market Operations India and South Asia Ajai Puri.
Commenting on the appointment, Puri said, “We are pleased to have Jinesh on board. I am confident that his rich and diverse experience and able leadership will add immense value to Airtel’s growth plans in Sri Lanka. I wish Jinesh the very best for his new role and look forward to working with him.”

Jinesh brings with him over two decades of experience across general management, business operations and has a flair for people management in terms of engagement and connectivity. 

He has spent the past 14 years in the telecommunications industry, in both the consumer and enterprise space covering mobile, fixed line and enterprise business. 

Prior to joining Airtel, Jinesh worked with Uninor, a subsidiary of Telenor Group – Norway in India.

A mechanical engineer from the Karnataka University in India, Jinesh also has an MBA in General Management from the Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta). He has also attended a Digital Marketing programme at INSEAD and a Marketing Management programme from the London Business School, London. 

Suren Goonewardene has been re-designated as Non-Executive Chairman of Airtel Lanka.

Airtel launched its services in Sri Lanka in 2009 and offers mobile voice, data and enterprise solutions. 

With over 330 million customers across 20 countries of its operations across Asia and Africa - Airtel is the third largest mobile operator in the world.