MUMBAI: MSN India, the leading online destination for Indians across the globe, today announced the appointment of Samir Saraiya as head of business development.

Saraiya will be reporting to MSN India & Windows Live country head Jaspreet Bindra.
According to Bindra in an official statement, "The Indian Internet market is flourishing and the growth that MSN India is experiencing reflects that. The appointment of Samir is part of our commitment to strengthen our pool of experience and expertise that MSN customers have come to expect."

In this newly created role, Saraiya will be responsible for leveraging the strengths of MSN India and Windows Live to create new opportunities and relationships with businesses in the Indian market.

He has been with the internet industry for the past several years. The early dotcom wave saw him shifting to Mid-Day where he headed the group’s business development portfolio across its digital assets. He then joined the Indian media conglomerate, The Times of India Group, where he worked with the vice chairman’s office overseeing business strategy across the Group’s media properties, including Indiatimes, The Economic Times and Bombay Times.

In 2003, he moved to Yahoo! India where he was responsible for creating new revenue streams across both the internet and mobile divisions including launching Yahoo! India’s E-commerce initiative and its mobile adverting products, states the release.