Chennai, March 19 (IANS): The Confederation of Indian Industry' (CII) southern chapter on Wednesday elected Coimbatore-based industrialist Rajshree Pathy as its chairperson for 2015-16.

Pathy's name was announced at the first meeting of the reconstituted Southern Regional Council held here on Wednesday, CII said in a statement.

A Padma Shri awardee, Pathy is the chairman and managing director of Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals Ltd and has been closely associated with CII and was the deputy chairperson of CII Southern Region 2014-15.

She has also been awarded the "Global Leader for Tomorrow" - World Economic Forum - Davos - 1996 and the Eisenhower Fellowship - 2000.

A commerce graduate, she completed an executive education programme (OPM) from Harvard Business School and certified in Strategic Alliances and Corporate Ethics at INSEAD.

Ramesh Datla, chairman and managing director, ELICO Ltd, Hyderabad has been elected as deputy chairman.