Coforge Shares Rise After Akhil Gupta Takes Charge As Chairman

Shares of Coforge Ltd. rose nearly 2% in early trade on Tuesday after the IT services company appointed Akhil Gupta as its new Chairperson. The appointment, effective 29 September 2026, comes after a period of boardroom turbulence at the company.

Around 11:12 AM, Coforge Ltd.'s share price was trading at ₹1,792.40, up 1.09%%, even as the broader market remained under pressure. Meanwhile, Nifty 50 was down about 0.54% at around 22,656.55. Coforge has fallen roughly 11.4% over the past month, although the stock remains up about 15% over the past year.

Who Is Akhil Gupta?

Gupta has been appointed as both Chairperson and Non-Executive Independent Director for a five-year term. He previously served as Vice Chairman of Bharti Enterprises and has more than 40 years of professional experience.

A Chartered Accountant, Gupta currently chairs the boards of 360 ONE WAM Ltd. and Bharti Life Insurance Ltd. He is also a board member of Zepto, Snapdeal, Eutelsat Communications, and Lodha Developers. He has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Coforge said Gupta was selected after a global search carried out with executive search firm Egon Zehnder. The process started with 60 candidates before the shortlist was narrowed down, with Gupta eventually emerging as the unanimous choice of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Board.

Why Was A New Chairperson Needed?

The appointment of Akhil Gupta as Coforge Chairperson comes after the resignation of former Chairperson O P Bhatt on 9 September. Bhatt's exit came after an internal audit found that he had withheld a board evaluation report in which his own performance received the lowest rating.

Vivek Sharma had taken over as interim Chairperson after Bhatt's resignation. Independent director D K Singh also later stepped down, citing differences and tension between independent and executive directors.

Coforge has not changed its FY27 guidance following the recent boardroom developments. It is still working towards an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of 20.5%-21%, an EBIT margin of at least 15.5% and free-cash-flow conversion of more than 100% of profit after tax (PAT). The company has also kept its four-year $5 billion target unchanged.

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