Dani, however, denied any pressure from financial institutions to reconstitute the board as a step towards changing the company's image from a family-run one to a purely professional company.

Financial institutions, which hold over 20 per cent in the company, has only one representative. Unit Trust of India is the single largest institutional shareholder with around 12.5 per cent stake.

The company has also initiated a organisational restructuring to facilitate and implement its growthstrategies. Whereas, previously, the different manufacturing units were treated as profit centres, now the strategic business unit (SBU) concept has been implemented effective October 1 this year.

Booz Allen Hamilton, which was appointed earlier in the year to engineer the recast, will team up with company officials to assist the strategy-initiatives committee, comprising directors and strategic-business unit (SBUs) heads, in the implementation of its growth strategy.

Asian Paints has now been divided into three separate SBUs: decoratives (India), decoratives (international) and Industrial & Chemicals unit. The three SBUs will be headed by a president or vice president, and all three will report to the managing director.

The common functions of finance, human resource development and legal, will be headed by executive director K Rajagopalachari, who is the only non-promoter wholetime director on the board till now.

As part of a reshuffle, former Asian PPG CEO, PM Murthy, will head decoratives (India)unit, while VS Ram, who was the vice president and HRD head, will be in charge of the joint venture. JN Shastri will head the industrial and chemicals SBU, while the head of international operations is yet to be named.