D Shivakumar steps down as Nokia's vice president for emerging markets

Nokia's senior vice-president for emerging markets, D Shivakumar, has quit the company, its top management said in a statement late on Thursday.

The development comes against the backdrop of mobile maker receiving a demand notice of over Rs 2,000 crore from Indian tax authorities for alleged evasion of taxes in its business transactions in the country. (Read full story)

"On behalf of Nokia, I thank Shiv for his contributions, and wish him all the best in the future. He will stay with us in a consultancy role until end-June," said Chris Weber, Nokia's executive vice-president for global sales and marketing, in a statement.

Mr Shivakumar had joined Nokia in 2006 as managing director and vice-president for sales in India.

He took over as head of Nokia in India amid rising competition from other low-cost phone makers, especially Chinese. Besides, the company faced intense competition in the smartphone segment from companies such as Samsung, Apple and BlackBerry.

In October 2011, he was elevated to the position of head of emerging markets comprising around 90 countries across the West Asia, the African region and India.