Former Ford India MD joins Tata Motors

Tata Motors has roped in Anurag Mehrotra, former President and MD, Ford India Pvt Ltd (FIPL), as Vice President (VP) International Business and Strategy of its commercial vehicles business unit (CVBU). Reporting to Girish Wagh-Executive Director & Head, CVBU, Mehrotra will be posted at the company’s IB office at Worli, Mumbai. At Ford India, he has had over 10 years of experience working across multiple leadership positions in marketing, sales and services during his tenure with Ford India. He brings to the table 25 years of his illustrious experience in a career journey with WINS Global Services, Accenture and Genesis Public Relations. In his previous stints, he was the VP-Marketing and Communications at Accenture between 2003 to 2007 and VP, corporate marketing at WNS Global Services from 2007 to 2010. An Electronics Engineer from Mumbai University, he holds a PGDMM from the Times School of Marketing. Mehrotra had relinquished his position at Ford India in September 2021 when the automaker announced a leadership change in its India operations. FIPL plans to halt vehicle production at two of its manufacturing plants in India as part of its India internal restructuring plans. Ford India will wind down vehicle assembly in Sanand (Gujarat) by Q4 2021 and vehicle and engine manufacturing in Chennai by Q2 2022. FIPL had invested some USD 2.5 billion at its Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Sanand but had incurred losses of over USD 2 billion in India. Its latest decision to quit India will impact over 4,000 employees and 150 dealer principals operating over 300 Ford outlets.

Wendy Werner

IFC appoints Wendy Werner as India Country Head

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank (WB) has named Wendy Werner as the new country head for India. She will be replacing Jun Zhang who retired recently after a long career with the Washington-based corporation. To be based out of New Delhi, Wendy will focus on the growth and diversification of IFC’s India portfolio, helping to maximise its impact in the region. She would be engaging with the Indian private sector, the government and other partners in driving impact across sectors, also, in intensifying IFC’s efforts in creating new markets while enhancing competitiveness. With over 20 years of experience, Werner will be steering cross-industry collaboration in promoting the corporation’s impact on climate, gender and innovation. Her role would also include fostering and sustaining jobs, raising living standards and mapping a path towards a low-carbon economy. A US national, Wendy began her journey with IFC in 2006 fulfilling her role in the American power and energy sector. She served as the country manager for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, successfully closing IFC’s transformative projects and diversified portfolio. In her previous roles, she was IFC trade and competitiveness manager for East Asia and the Pacific and was also based in Southeast Europe and Tajikistan in other earlier career stints. India is the largest client-country globally for WB Group’s developmental lender programme with a commitment of $1.7 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2021, an increase of over 51% from last year. IFC has invested over $24 billion (including mobilisation) in over 500 domestic companies since its first engagement in 1956.

Sanjay Bhargava and Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s Starlink appoints its first India Country Director

Elon Musk’s Starlink has appointed Sanjay Bhargava as its first-ever Country Director, India for its Starlink satellite broadband plan. The new role highlights Bhargava’s association with Musk taking them back to their partnership on the PayPal founding team. Bhargava is looking forward to his new role with Starlink in supporting a transformed India. His role will involve aligning with the company’s goal in bringing internet connectivity to rural India. As SpaceX gears up to launch Starlink connectivity in India by next year, Bhargav intends to build a common vision with Starlink in supporting a connectivity transformation in India, including rural India. Starlink launched its public beta service in October 2020 and is expected to come out with the beta phase. SpaceX is also planning to maintain a local manufacturing of satellite communications (satcom) equipment in India, including antenna systems and user terminal devices. For this, the company has been in talks with industry players and stakeholders, including the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). It is aiming to launch its high-speed Starlink satellite broadband services in the country next year. Its service depends on a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites in providing Internet connectivity to even the remotest parts of the world.

Sundar Raman

Raman promoted as global CEO, P&G Homecare

Sundar Raman will take charge as the global CEO, fabric and home care division, Procter & Gamble (P&G). A P&G old hand, Raman succeeds Shailesh Jejurikar who has been promoted as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the company. Raman will spearhead the fabric division managing iconic FMCG brands such as Ariel, Tide, Ambi Pur and Downy that contributes to about one-third of the total company sales and net earnings. His responsibilities would be to deliver P&G’s top as well as bottom-line growth through innovation (R&D), enhance its synchronised E2E supply chain, brand-building and sales. Raman’s global role also indicates India as one of P&G’s top talent hubs and as one of the largest exporters of its global leadership pool. The company has approximately 350 Indian expats in multiple roles globally. Raman kick-started his journey with P&G as a market analyst in India in 1998, moving onto the US to work for P&G Beauty. He has held varied roles within P&G including business intelligence (BI), marketing and has risen through the ranks. He has been instrumental in the launch of new products-Tide Pods and Downy Unstopables. He reflects his passion for diversity, inclusion, and the company’s citizenship agenda in leading equality inclusion for P&G’s fabric home care division. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (1996) and Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (1998), he is considered a visionary leader with broad expertise and a passion for innovation.

Rajeev Gopalakrishnan

Gopalakrishnan promoted as President–APAC, Bata Global

Rajeev Gopalakrishnan has been promoted as the President-Asia-Pacific (APAC) market at Bata Global Group (Bata Shoe Organisation) and has relinquished his previous role as the Director effective September 30, 2021. Since July 2019, he has been leading the company’s Asia-Pacific region (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan). He has previously steered Bata’s businesses in the South Asian regions for five years. His association with Bata began 26 years ago and he has since played key roles across most of Bata’s global destination offices. His contributions have scaled beyond Bata and have benefitted the industry at large. He is a recipient of the ‘EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2015’ and ‘India’s Most Trusted CEO 2017’ conferred by the World Consulting & Research Corporation (WCRC). A Mechanical Engineer from the University of Kerala, Gopalakrishnan is a self-driven professional who believes in people power with a key focus on building relationships with the company’s internal as well as external stakeholders.

IPA onboards Mehta and Hamied for healthcare collaboration

Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) has appointed Samir Mehta, Chairman, Torrent Group as its President and Samina Hamied, Executive Vice Chairman Cipla as its Vice President for a tenure of two years (2021- 2023). IPA represents 23 research-based national pharmaceutical companies and accounts for over 85% of the private sector investment in pharmaceutical research and development. IPA will be collaborating with stakeholders to strengthen access to medicines and help create an innovation ecosystem for the benefit of patients. Samina is looking at collaborating with all stakeholders of the industry in ensuring sustainable, resilient and agile operations by generating a positive approach in the lives of patients.

Padmaja Chunduru

Padmaja Chunduru takes charge as CEO, NSDL

Padmaja Chunduru, former MD & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Indian Bank has taken over as the MD & CEO of the National Securities Depositories Ltd (NSDL). The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had approved Chunduru’s appointment as the CEO, NSDL, following which, she assumed the office on September 22, 2021. She has around 37 years of experience in the banking sector bringing in her extensive experience in stakeholder management, digital transformation and regulatory affairs. She has international experience in driving innovation with a focus on delivering growth and value enhancements. Prior to this role, she was the MD & CEO of Indian Bank from September 2018. Prior to her stint with Indian Bank, she has worked with the State Bank of India (SBI) as Deputy Managing Director (Digital Banking) and in a previous role as the Country Head of US Operations, SBI from 2014–2017 at New York. In other prior roles, she also served as a Director in Life Insurance Corporation of India and has been a board member across various institutions such as the Indian Padmaja Chunduru takes charge as CEO, NSDL Padmaja Chunduru Rajeev Gopalakrishnan Banks’ Association, National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM), Pune; Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India; Institute of Banking Personnel Selection and Indian Institute of Banking Management, Guwahati.

Pratibha K Advani

Former CFO, Tata Comm. to join IT service firm

Information Technology and Services firm vCloudx has appointed Pratibha K Advani as its Chief Business Officer and will be responsible for spearheading its global expansion plans. In her leadership role, the former CFO at Tata Communications is expected to steer vCloudx in its strategic partnerships and increase the company’s geographical footprint, including investor engagements. vCloudx, promotes cloud communication platform EnableX.io, and Pratibha will enable the company to foray outside its domestic market for achieving its growth targets. The company will gain from her financial domain prowess and exceptional business development skills. Her vision and experience in the IT and Telecom sectors are seen as an added attribute in helping the company achieve mileage in the CPaaS (communications platform-as-a-service) sector. Pratibha comes with over 30 years of professional experience with iconic Indian corporates and global MNCs in domains such as Business Strategy and Transformation, Corporate Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions and Investor Relations. In previous stints, she has served as the Chief Financial Officer, NIIT Technologies and Barclays Shared Services; as the Vice President - Finance & CFO at GE-SBI Cards amongst other positions. Her roles have been representative of the notable transformational projects that she has led globally. Pratibha has been honoured with accolades, including Forbes Top New Age CFO-2019, CNBC TV18-Best CFO Award in the IT & ITES sector-2014 and Business Today’s Best Woman CFO Award-2014. She was appreciated as part of the CFO100 League of Honour – 2015.

Sirdeshmukh

Sirdeshmukh elevated as CEO of Ola Cars

Ola has promoted Arun Sirdeshmukh as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ola Cars, as he transitions from his previous role as the Senior Vice President (SVP) & Global Business Head of Ola Electric. In his new role, the former Amazon India and Reliance Trends executive will oversee the entire sales and distribution, service, marketing, customer support and go-to-market strategy for Ola Cars. Sirdeshmukh will be extensively engaged in Ola’s plans for aggressive expansions across India and the international markets in launching new verticals including pre-owned two wheelers and new vehicles. Starting with 30 cities, Ola Cars plans to gradually scale up to 100+cities by the next year. His appointment also coincides with Ola’s launch of its vehicle commerce platform, positioned as a one-stop shop for customers for hassle-free buying, selling and managing of their cars. The e-vehicle platform will enable customers to buy new and pre-owned vehicles through the Ola app. With the new platform, Ola Cars is envisioning going beyond buying and selling of cars and extending into allied services into vehicle finance, insurance, car maintenance enabling an end-to-end digital-first experience for customers. Services would also include vehicle health diagnostics and service, accessories and also resale of the vehicle back to Ola Cars. Sirdeshmukh brings in more than 30 years of experience in consumer internet, FMCG, fashion industries and retail, holding key positions in Amazon India, Reliance Trends, and IBM Global Services.