Saudia Airline ropes in Sanjiv Kapoor as group advisor

Sanjiv Kapoor, former CEO-designate of the grounded Jet Airways has joined Saudia Airlines as an advisor to Ibrahim Al-Omar, Director General of Arabia’s national airline, the Saudia Group. Kapoor’s latest stint comes close to his resignation tendered with Jet Airways in April. He announced his new role via a Tweet, where Kapoor said that he would work with Saudia Airlines and help sync in with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, aimed at attracting 100+ million visitors to the Kingdom. He is expected to contribute to the airline’s transformation viz its strategic location as a global hub connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa. Sanjiv Kapoor was born and raised in Kolkata and is an alum of the prestigious La Martiniere School. He holds a Computer Science degree from Dartmouth College (1990) and is an MBA graduate (1996) from Wharton (University of Pennsylvania). Before his stint with Jet Airways, Kapoor held several leadership positions, including those with the Oberoi Hotels and Resorts chain (President), Vistara Airlines (Chief Strategy Officer), and SpiceJet (Chief Operating Officer). He began his career in 1997 with North- west Airlines (merged with Delta) in the US and was engaged with their finance and corporate planning. In 2004, Kapoor joined Bain and Company (Singapore) and later took up responsibility for the global consulting firm at their offices in Dallas and London. He is known to have enabled them towards airline practice and worked with global airline clients on projects that involved strategy, performance turnaround, building networks, alliances, and customer experience. In previous roles, he worked with Temasek Holdings, Oracle Corporation, and as CEO of GMG Airlines in Bangladesh.

Rohit Jawa takes over as MD and CEO, of HUL

Rohit Jawa

Rohit Jawa will take over as the new managing director and chief executive officer of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), effective June 27, 2023, replacing incumbent MD and CEO Sanjiv Mehta. Jawa is currently President, Unilever, South Asia and CEO Designate and whole-time Director, HUL. A Unilever veteran, he began as a management trainee with Unilever’s Mumbai office and subsequently held executive positions across its sales, marketing, transformation, and general management teams. He steered HUL businesses globally across Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, China, and the UK. He joined as Chief of Transformation for Unilever in London, in January 2022. Before his UK stint, he played a significant role in transforming Unilever China into a competitive, profitable, and consistent business and as the chairman of Unilever Philippines, he transformed Unilever’s Philippines business into one of the company’s top 10 markets globally. His experience scales categories, including personal care, home care, and the food sector. A Harvard Business School graduate, he is an alum of Delhi’s Faculty of Management Studies (FMS).

Ajay Vij steps up as Country Managing Director, Accenture

Ajay Vij

In a newly created role, Accenture has appointed stalwart Ajay Vij as the Country Managing Director, of India, to steer the organisation. His role will fill in the gaps as Rekha M. Menon, Senior Managing Director and Chairperson for Accenture India, is due to retire on June 30, having rendered her services for two decades with Accenture India.

Vij is expected to expand his current responsibilities as Corporate Services & Sustainability Lead in providing leadership and driving coordinated decision-making for critical priorities. Vij, an Accenture stalwart, has had over 17 years of association with Accenture, beginning as Managing Director, of Geographic Operations, India. He has since moved up the rungs as Senior Vice President and Vice President before his most recent position in the Country MD. He is an alumnus of the Oberoi School of Hotel Management.

Rahul Jain to lead BCG’s India operations

Rahul Jain

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has chosen Rahul Jain to lead its India office, as part of its regional leadership position. Jain who steers BCG's Industrial Goods practice across the Asia-Pacific region will be replacing Alpesh Shah, who will be moving in as BCG’s CEO advisory in the Asia- Pacific region.

Shah has been leading the global management consulting firm’s India office since September 2018. Jain, an alumnus of IIM Lucknow, has expertise in multiple domains including automotive, engineering, logistics, and various process industries, involving power, cement, steel, chemicals, and other building materials.

Jain’s leadership in the automotive space exhibits his contributions to strategic issues across mobility, electric vehicles, and digitisation. He is also a core member of BCG’s Consumer, Operations, and Global Advantage practices.

OnePlus India CEO quits

Navnit Nakra

Navnit Nakra, CEO of OnePlus India, has stepped down from the global technology brand to "follow his passion". He has been responsible for managing the company’s India business for 3+ years since 2020 as the company’s Vice President and was later promoted as Chief Strategy Officer in October 2021. He has been the CEO of the company for its India business. Before joining OnePlus, Nakra was the Head of Affordability in India for Apple, managing strategic initiatives which devised effective consumer and enterprise finance offers across categories including smartphones, tablets, laptops, watches, and accessories. He had earlier worked with Citibank N.A. for nearly 15 years, where he steered leadership as the National Head for Liabilities and Regional Lead for the company’s e-commerce sector across India, Greater China, and Korea within commercial banking.

GE Stalwart roped in as CFO AstraZeneca India

Bhavana Agrawal

Bhavana Agrawal will take over as the new Chief Finance Officer (CFO) at AstraZeneca Pharma India, with effect from October 1, 2023, following a transition period. Bhavana succeeds Rajesh Marwaha, who is slated to step down as CFO and full-time director of the company on September 30, 2023. She will oversee the company’s financial strategy and operations, planning and analysis, and investor relations. Bhavana brings 20+ years of finance experience across multiple domains and geographies. She has domain expertise in commercial finance, P&L management, cost optimisation, financial planning /analysis, cash flow management, lean/process improvements, accounting, and controls. Before joining Astra, her CFO role focused on Emerging Markets at GE Healthcare for the Middle East, Africa and Russia. She was responsible for revenue, costs, cash, planning session, and financial closing activities across 30+ countries. Her career span exhibits roles across the GE conglomerate in key leadership roles with General Electric, GE Capital, and GE Real Estate, and a stint with Deloitte and Touche in their Business Assurance and Advisory unit. She is an all-India rank holder in Chartered Accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Hinduja Group ropes in former Ashok Leyland HR stalwart

Amanppreet Singh Bhatia

Amanppreet Singh Bhatia takes over as Group President, Human Resources of the Hinduja Group conglomerate, succeeding Sudhanshu Tripathi. In Bhatia’s 32 years of experience, he has managed leadership and strategic roles across multinational organisations and reputed Indian corporations spanning diverse sectors, including manufacturing, engineering, automotive, FMCG, IT, and services. Before joining the Hinduja group, he was President and Head of HR at Ashok Leyland Group, where he worked for 3+ years. Before his Leyland stint, he was the CHRO at Escorts Limited, where he executed the role of the Group Executive Vice President and also wore the CEO’s hat for Escorts’ tractor resale business. Bhatia’s other prolific designations include that as the Executive Vice President and Group Head HR at VE Commercial Vehicles, Country Head-HR with Intertek Group PLC, and others including Symantec, and Gillette. Bhatia holds a Master's in Business Administration (MBA), and Personnel Management and Industrial Relations (HR) from the University Business School, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

MRPL’s Sanjay Varma takes charge as MD

Sanjay Varma

Sanjay Varma will steer Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) as the Managing Director (additional charge) as per the directive of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He has been on the board of the coastal Karnataka-based hydrocarbon refinery as Director (Refinery) since June 2020 and has played a pivotal role in the company's strategic direction and decision-making process. He is on the boards of ONGC-Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd and Shell-MRPL Aviation, providing him a platform to execute critical expansions, enables energy transformation targets, and forge ambitious marketing ventures. Varma has showcased his leadership skills in reviving MRPL’s fortunes, resulting in gaining significant performance and financial position, making it India’s largest operated single-site oil PSU nationwide for the financial year 2022-23. Varma joined MRPL in December 1993 as a graduate of mechanical engineering and played a pivotal role in the execution and operation of the refinery’s three major phases and its aromatic complexity. In his 30+ career graph, he led MRPL across operations with domain expertise across the Oil and Gas industry. During his three-and-a-half decades of service, he headed the organisation’s operations, project, and materials management, including health, safety, and environ- ment management.

Debasish Biswas is new CEO of the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery

Debasish Biswas

The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has appointed Debasish Biswas as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indian Institute of Gems & Jewellery (IIGJ). The GJEPC is the apex body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, driving India's export-led growth in the gems and jewellery sector, since 1966. Biswas brings three decades of professional experience across the banking, telecom, insurance, and media sectors. In his 17 years of leadership stints, he has worn multiple caps including that of a VP, Country Head, and CEO in the education and training industry nationwide and globally. A seasoned business leader, his diverse professional experience scale leading multinational corporations and blue-chip Indian companies. He has had a successful track record of organisational growth, business development, corporate strategy, service excellence, brand and marketing, including profit-center management. He is an alumnus of the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad, and the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. IIGJ has five state-of-the-art campuses in Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi, and Udupi offering degree, diploma, and certification programs for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and offers corporate training.

AWS’s Chandok steps down

Puneet Chandok

Puneet Chandok, Head of Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) cloud division, AWS in India and South Asia has resigned, effective August 31, 2023. Chandok was inducted to lead Amazon Web Services (AWS) in June 2019 and in his absence, Vaishali Kasture, AWS India’s current head of enterprise for mid-market and global businesses, will be the interim leader for its commercial business unit. Chandok’s resignation comes within weeks of the cloud giant pledging to invest $12+ billion in India by 2030. Before joining AWS, Chandok showcased his leadership qualities working with McKinsey & Company and IBM Global Services. In other previous roles, he was the Business Sales Manager with Ocwen Financial Corporation and a Technology Consultant with Hewitt Associates. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, and a visiting faculty at the college. He has a certification from the National Stock Exchange of India. He has been passionately building AWS in India to empower builders and businesses. AWS is one of the largest players in cloud computing. Its diverse customer base includes the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Aarogyasri Health Care Trust, HDFC Life, Ashok Leyland, Axis Bank, and Titan.

MNRE Joint secretary takes over as MD, Solar Energy Corporation

Ajay Yadav

Ajay Yadav, the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), has assumed additional charge as Managing Director of Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. (SECI). A seasoned Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 2005 batch of the Bihar cadre, Yadav succeeds Suman Sharma, IRS and former MD SECI who has relinquished his post and joined UPSC effective May 25, 2023. Before he joined the MNRE as Joint Secretary, he was Private Secretary to the Minister of Civil Aviation. He began his career journey as an Assistant Collector in Patna, Bihar, and has subsequently held several critical Govt of India and State Govt positions. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. SECI, a Miniratna Category-I Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) was established in 2011 and serves as the primary implementing agency for renewable energy schemes and projects under the MNRE. The corporation has been promoting solar energy projects and investments. It significantly contributes to India’s sustainable energy goals.