Mumbai, Aug. 29: Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), the Tata group hospitality firm, has appointed Duetsche Hospitality chief executive Puneet Chhatwal as its managing director and CEO.

Chhatwal will take over from incumbent Rakesh Sarna, who is stepping down on September 30.

The board of directors of the company at its meeting held today approved the appointment of Chhatwal, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

At present, Chhatwal is chief executive and member of the executive board of Duetsche Hospitality/Steinberger Hotels AG, a large European hotel chain, it added.

He has over two decades of leadership experience in the global hospitality industry, having worked with some of the leading hotel groups in Europe and North America.

Chhatwal had started his career in India, it added.

In May this year, IHCL had announced that Sarna had resigned citing personal reasons. Sarna was one of the high-profile recruitments from outside the Tata group made by ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry.

Sarna had joined IHCL in September 2014 replacing the company's long-serving head Raymond Bickson.