Priya Nair appointed new CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever, to succeed Rohit Jawa

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DLF India chairman Rajiv Singh received a paycheck hike of 34% in the fiscal year 2025. According to the annual report of the real estate firm, Singh's annual remuneration surged to Rs 36.65 crore in FY25 compared to Rs 27.30 crore in the preceding fiscal year.

Of the total remuneration, Rs 35.53 crore was given in the form of commission to Singh, the company mentioned.

On the other hand, DLF's MDs Ashok Kumar Tyagi and Devinder Singh received an annual remuneration of Rs 14.16 crore each in fiscal 2025--a hike of 5% YoY. In FY24, DLF's MDs' annual pay package was Rs 13.52 crore each.

The variable pay component of MDs accounted for Rs 8.77 crore each of their total package.

<a href="https://cms.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/zomatos-deepinder-goyal-buys-rs-52-crore-apartment-at-the-camellias-in-gurugram-73871.html">Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal buys Rs 52 crore apartment at The Camellias in Gurugram</a>

DLF has approved commission or variable pay, comprising performances beyond targeted business parameters such as profit after tax, cashflows, money spent on construction and pre-sales, to Singh Tyagi and Devinder for FY25.

The property developer reported a 60.3% rise in its profit in fiscal year 2025. According to the company's data, the consolidated net profit increased from Rs 2,724 crore in FY24 to Rs 4,367 crore in FY25. Whereas, the company generated a total income of Rs 8,966 crore in FY25--up by 28.8% YoY.

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The total operating expenses (excluding finance costs, depreciation, and amortisation expenses) stood at Rs5,885 crore, and the consolidated EBITDA improved to Rs3,111 crore in the financial year 2025.

Notably, DLF Cyber City Developers Limited (DCCDL) reported a consolidated total income of Rs6,448 crore, clocking a 9% growth over the previous period, led by the rental growth in the office and retail portfolio. DCCDL’s consolidated EBITDA stood at Rs 4,949 crore in FY 2024-25 in comparison to Rs 4,478 crore in FY 2023-24. DLF's development business registered sales bookings of Rs 21,223 crore, with its super luxury offering - The Dahlias in DLF 5, Gurugram mopped up new sales bookings of Rs 13,744 crore. 


DLF mentioned that it has identified a pipeline of new products, totaling 2.60 million square meters (msm), or 28 million square feet, across the office and retail complexes that it intends to build over the medium term. It has targeted its rental revenue to surpass Rs 10,000 crore by the end of the medium term.

DLF India Chairman Rajiv Singh gets 34% pay hike to Rs 36.65 crore in FY25

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) today announced that Priya Nair, currently President, Beauty & Wellbeing, Unilever, will be appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, HUL, effective 1st August 2025. She will also join the HUL Board, subject to necessary approvals, and continue to be a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE).

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/women-of-hul-from-leena-nair-to-prabha-narasimhan-hindustan-unilever-has-created-iconic-female-leaders-33360.htm">Read more: Women of HUL: From Leena Nair to Prabha Narasimhan, Hindustan Unilever has created iconic female leaders</a>

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/who-is-priya-nair-the-first-ever-female-ceo-and-md-of-hul-73897.htm">Read more: Who is Priya Nair - the first-ever female CEO and MD of HUL?</a>

Nair joined HUL in 1995 and held several sales and marketing roles across Home Care, Beauty & Wellbeing, and Personal Care businesses. Her significant contributions led her to become the Executive Director, Home Care, HUL between 2014 and 2020, thereafter, the Executive Director, Beauty & Personal Care, HUL from 2020 to 2022. Subsequently, she went on to become the Global Chief Marketing Officer, Beauty & Wellbeing at Unilever. Since 2023, Priya has had a successful tenure as President of Beauty & Wellbeing, one of Unilever’s fastest growing businesses.

Rohit Jawa will step down as CEO and MD on 31st July 2025 to pursue the next chapter in his personal and professional journey.

Jawa took over as the CEO and MD of HUL in 2023. During his tenure of over two years, the company delivered volume-led competitive growth. He introduced the ‘ASPIRE’ strategy that is driving the business to transform portfolio and channels towards high-growth demand spaces. Rohit has held many notable roles across his successful 37-year career, including Executive Vice President North Asia and Chair Unilever China, and Chair of Unilever Philippines, two of the most important Unilever operations, in which he achieved notable success.

Thanking Jawa for his invaluable leadership, Nitin Paranjpe, Chairman HUL said, “On behalf of the Board of HUL, I would like to thank Rohit for leading the business through tough market conditions and strengthening its foundations for success. The Company took decisive actions to sharpen the portfolio and further stepped up its market leadership over the last two years. I wish him the very best for the next chapter in his life.”

Welcoming Nair back to India and to HUL, Paranjpe added, “Priya has had an outstanding career in HUL and Unilever. I am certain that with her deep understanding of the Indian market and excellent track record, Priya will take HUL to the next level of performance.”

More About Priya Nair

Currently, Nair serves as Business Group President – Beauty & Wellbeing at Unilever, overseeing a 13 billion Euros portfolio that includes Hair Care, Skin Care, Prestige Beauty, and Health & Wellbeing brands across more than 20 markets.

Nair has worked at Unilever for about 30 years. She began her career in consumer insights at the FMCG company and went on to lead brands like Dove, Rin, and Comfort. "As Global CMO for Beauty & Wellbeing, she architected social-first marketing strategies, scaled influencer-led innovation, and launched global campaigns that repositioned Unilever’s beauty portfolio for younger, more digitally native consumers," HUL mentioned.

Previously, as Executive Director – Home Care (South Asia), she turned around the business by driving sustainability, value innovation, and cost efficiencies, according to the company. Nair is commerce graduate from Sydenham College, MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune and has also completed executive education at Harvard Business School.

The pay gap between IT company chairmen and Managing Directors and their employees has widened dramatically over the past four years.

According to Storyboard18's analysis of India's top-listed IT services firms, Wipro's chairman Rishad Premji has the lowest pay ratio to median employee remuneration. This means that the gap between Premji's salary and the average employee's earnings is the smallest at Wipro. 

However, the pay ratio has surged from 10.80 in fiscal year 2021 to 140.54 in fiscal year 2025, reflecting a massive year-on-year increase.

Rishad Premji's FY25 remuneration surged to Rs 13.7 crore, up from Rs 6.5 crore in the previous fiscal year. His compensation package included salary, allowances, commission, performance-based payments, prerequisites, and the company's contribution to provident fund and superannuation, as well as the value of registered stock units.

In contrast, Wipro's employee benefits, comprising salaries and bonuses, PF, and shared compensation declined 2.8% year-on-year to Rs 533,477 million in FY25. According to the company, the decrease in total employee compensation costs was attributed to a lower average headcount, partially offset by salary increases and promotions. 

Premji's salary has been volatile, with his pay ratio to median employee remuneration fluctuating significantly. In FY22, it stood at 174.02:1. 

Infosys Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and MD Salil Parekh recorded the highest salary gap with employees in FY25, with a pay ratio of 752:1, up from 677 in the previous financial year. Parekh's salary saw a spike of 21.6% to Rs 80.62 crore in FY25. 

Meanwhile, Infosys employees in India received an average annual salary increase of 12%, including promotions and other compensation revisions.

In contrast, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO K Krithivasan's pay ratio to median remuneration was 329.8 in FY25, marginally higher than the 326.81 recorded by former CEO Rajesh Gopinathan in FY21. 

Krithivasan's total compensation increased by 4.6% to Rs 26.52 crore in FY25, while TCS employees received an average annual salary hike of 6.3%.

Noida-based HCL Technologies has not disclosed its median remuneration for fiscal year 2025 yet. However,  in FY24, CEO C Vijayakumar's pay ratio to employees' median salary was 707.46, with the CEO earning $10.06 million. 

According to Equila, the salary disparity is largely driven by performance-based compensation and stock awards, which typically account for around 70% of top executives' total pay packages.

From Wipro to Infosys, India's IT giants see massive pay gap between CEOs and employees

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited announced appointment of Kirti Ganorkar as the Managing Director with effect from 1 September 2025. Ganorkar will succeed  Dilip Shanghvi, the pharma giant informed the stock exchanges on Friday. However, Shanghvi will continue to remain the Executive Chairman of the Sun Pharma board. He will focus on providing insights towards shaping company’s long-term strategy.


Ganorkar has been heading India Business at Sun Pharma since June 2019. Previously, he held various leadership roles across business development, marketing, Merger and Acquisition (M&A), new product introduction, project management, IP and litigation at Sun Pharma. 

Dilip Shanghvi, Chairman & Managing Director of Sun Pharma said, “Kirti has consistently demonstrated effective leadership managing diverse roles at Sun. I have a firm belief in his ability to lead the company into its next phase of growth and extend my best wishes for his success. Kirti’s elevation showcases our strong in-house talent pool, ensuring continuity of Sun’s core value systems.”

Ganorkar played a key role in driving Sun Pharma’s foray into specialty by securing rights for innovative products such as Ilumya. According to the company, Ganorkar  led Sun Pharma’s entry into Japan and laid initial groundwork for the company’s entry into Europe. A chemical engineer and MBA, Ganorkar joined Sun Pharma in 1996.

"It has been a profoundly rewarding journey to participate in the company’s transformation into a leading global pharmaceutical enterprise. Sun Pharma is at an exciting juncture with all its businesses well-positioned for growth," Ganorkar, Managing Director (Designate) of Sun Pharma stated.

Meanwhile, Abhay Gandhi – President & CEO, North America, has decided to pursue his interests outside Sun Pharma. Richard (“Rick”) Ascroft will be joining as CEO – North America, succeeding Gandhi. 

Rick is a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive with more than three decades of experience spanning commercial operations, market access, medical affairs, and corporate affairs across the US and global markets. Recently, he served as Senior Vice President and Business Unit Head of US Plasma-Derived Therapies at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and was a member of both the US and global executive leadership teams.

Aalok Shanghvi – Whole-time Director and Chief Operating Officer, has been additionally entrusted with the responsibility for the North America business wherein Rick will report to Aalok.

Sun Pharma appoints Kirti Ganorkar as the Managing Director

IndiGo airline on Wednesday appointed Vikram Singh Mehta as the Chairman of the Board. Mehta will be succeeding Dr Venkataramani Sumantran, who stepped down from the post after the completion of his five-year term as a board member. According to the press filing by IndiGo, Mehta, a former Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, served the country for two years in 1978, and later started his journey in the corporate sector. 

Mehta is the Chairman of the public policy think tank “Centre for Social and Economic Progress”, former executive chairman of Brookings India, and senior fellow, of Brookings Institution. He was the chairman of the Shell Group of Companies in India and the Chief Executive Officer of Shell Markets and Shell Chemicals, Egypt. Mehta has been a Member of the Board of InterGlobe Aviation Limited (IndiGo) since May 2022. He also served on the boards of Colgate Palmolive (India) Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, and Larsen and Toubro Limited previously.

A mathematics graduate from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, Mehta holds two master’s degrees – one from Oxford University in Politics and Economics, and the other in Energy Economics from Tufts University.

Mehta's appointment has come after the airline's co-founder Rakesh Gangwal sold 22.10 lakh equity shares of IndiGo through the open market this week. Gangwal and his family sold 5.7% stake in the airline for about Rs 11,385 crore through block deal, as per the media reports. His holding has declined to 1.82 crore shares of 4.73%.

Gangwal gradually trimmed his holding in the airline after he stepped down from IndiGo's board in 2022. The entrepreneur and his family have pared their stake from 36.6% to 13.5% as of the latest sale.

IndiGo appoints Vikram Mehta as Chairman of Board

Indian-origin global advertising leader Nirvik Singh has been appointed as an Independent Director on the Board of Gulf Oil for a five-year term, effective from 6 February 2025 to 5 February 2030. His appointment, previously announced on 6 February 2025, is subject to shareholder approval.

The Board of Directors state that Singh’s extensive experience in marketing, corporate governance, risk management, and compliance makes him a valuable addition. With over 35 years in the advertising and marketing industry, he has played a key role in shaping global brands and driving business transformation.

Singh previously served as Global Chief Operating Officer and President of International Markets at Grey Group, overseeing operations across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. He has also led multiple acquisitions in China, India, South Korea, the UAE, the UK, and South Africa, covering sectors such as e-commerce, data analytics, and marketing technology.

Beginning his career at Lipton India, a Unilever company, Singh transitioned into advertising, becoming CEO of Grey Group India at 33 and later leading its expansion into South Asia. His leadership journey took him to Singapore, where he was appointed Chairman and CEO of Grey Asia-Pacific in 2010 before assuming his global role in 2019.

Gulf Oil’s Board expects Singh’s strategic insights and independent perspective to support the company’s growth and adaptability in an evolving market.

Nirvik Singh appointed as Independent Director at Gulf Oil

Firebolt, the Data Warehouse for AI applications, today announced the appointment of Sandeep Mathur as the Managing Director, APAC. In this role, Mathur will drive Firebolt’s growth strategy in APAC, lead regional go-to-market (GTM) efforts, and collaborate with Firebolt’s leadership to build global teams—including support, sales development, and engineering—based in India.

With over 25 years of leadership experience in the technology industry, Sandeep brings a deep understanding of enterprise data and analytics. Prior to joining Firebolt, he held leadership roles at Lentra, Oracle, among others, where he was instrumental in driving business expansion, strategic sales and fostering innovation in technology and data analytics solutions. With his appointment, Firebolt will focus on expanding its footprint in key verticals like financial services, e-commerce, and technology, where real-time analytics and lightning-fast performance are critical. 

Eldad Farkash, co-founder & CEO of Firebolt, commented on the appointment: “Sandeep Mathur's appointment marks a pivotal moment for Firebolt. His deep understanding of the APAC market, combined with his strategic expertise, will be instrumental as we empower APAC enterprises with a new generation of high-performance analytics, expand partner ecosystems and enhance customer education initiatives that redefine speed, scale, and efficiency.”

Hemanth Vedagarbha, president, Firebolt, said, "We are thrilled to have Sandeep Mathur at Firebolt. His deep expertise in scaling high-growth technology businesses and driving customer success in the region makes him an invaluable addition to our leadership team. As Firebolt continues to redefine cloud data analytics with unmatched speed and efficiency, Sandeep’s leadership will play a crucial role in expanding our presence and delivering exceptional value to enterprises across APAC."

Expressing enthusiasm for his new role, Sandeep Mathur, Managing Director, APAC, Firebolt, stated “Innovation and technology are transforming how businesses in APAC operate. Joining Firebolt at such a pivotal time in the data and analytics landscape, I look forward to helping businesses achieve unmatched performance and efficiency. Firebolt’s innovative approach to cloud data warehousing is setting new benchmarks in performance and cost efficiency. My focus will be on collaborating with enterprises and fast-growing startups across APAC to optimize their cloud data infrastructures and maximize their performance-to-cost ratio. I look forward to partnering with our talented team and stakeholders to help organizations in the region unlock the full potential of their data.”

The APAC region is witnessing a massive shift toward data democratization, AI-powered analytics, and cost-optimized cloud solutions. Firebolt is well-positioned to help businesses achieve unmatched performance and efficiency in data analytics. Sandeep’s appointment underscores Firebolt’s commitment to expanding its global footprint and delivering best-in-class analytics solutions to enterprises worldwide.


Firebolt expands into APAC with Sandeep Mathur as Managing Director

Chief Marketing Officer of TATA Motors (passenger vehicles), Vinay Pant has moved out of the organization after two years. Industry sources have confirmed the development to Storyboard18. Tata Motors did not respond to calls and messages. Tata Motors is undergoing multiple changes in the organization and at the agency level. 

Pant was associated with Maruti Suzuki for 15 years starting 2007, heading consumer analytics. At Maruti Suzuki, he also served as Head of Marketing and later as Senior VP for True Value.

He worked with Hero MotoCorp as a strategic planner in 1996 and was also a part of Reckitt Benckiser for three years. Pant is an alumni of BITS Pilani. 

He was also associated with TNS, IMRB International and GFK.  

Tata Motors PVs CMO Vinay Pant quits amidst multiple rejigs at the auto major

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), announced a key change to its Management Committee. Arun Neelakantan (43), chief digital officer, HUL will be appointed as executive director, customer development, HUL effective July 1st, 2024. He will be taking over from Kedar Lele, who will be pursuing an external opportunity.

 
Neelakantan started his career with HUL as Key Account Manager in Modern Trade in 2006 after completing his Bachelor’s Degree from IIT Madras, Master’s from Penn State University, followed by an MBA from Indian School of Business (ISB). He has a proven track record of performance at HUL and has led large teams and change agenda in Customer Development and Marketing, across General Trade, Modern Trade, Customer Marketing and Brand Building. 


In his role as Regional Manager, leading the company’s largest branch in Chennai, Neelakantan was able to deliver market-beating growth consistently. Under his leadership, the South region went on to launch several path-breaking initiatives for Customer Development in India, backed by deep consumer insights and execution excellence in the market. He has played a key role in accelerating HUL’s digital transformation programme across consumer, customer and operations ecosystems and has strengthened data and digital capabilities for category and eCommerce teams. 
 

Rohit Jawa, CEO and Managing Director, HUL said, “Arun has a proven track record in various roles across the organisation. With his deep understanding of the customer development landscape in the country, coupled with his knowledge of channels of the future and expertise in data and technology, I am sure he will help take HUL Customer Development and Sales to greater heights.”

 

Jawa also thanked Kedar for his contribution to the business and said, “It was Kedar who spearheaded HUL’s foray into eCommerce. Under his leadership, our pioneering eB2B app Shikhar was scaled up and it now covers over a million retailers across the country. I would like to thank him for the lasting contributions he has made to HUL over his 20-year long journey with us.”


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/women-of-hul-from-leena-nair-to-prabha-narasimhan-hindustan-unilever-has-created-iconic-female-leaders-33360.htm">Women of HUL: From Leena Nair to Prabha Narasimhan, Hindustan Unilever has created iconic female leaders</a>

HUL's chief digital officer Arun Neelakantan to take over as executive director, customer development

The tale of Indian executives taking over global CEO positions and running the world's biggest companies is well-known and celebrated. But equally important is the story of top executives who were running multinational companies in other countries returning to India as CEOs and MDs. 

In recent weeks, four such executives have made a move back to their home country after spending time abroad. 

Jagrut Kotecha

Jagrut Kotecha is the newly-announced president and CEO of PepsiCo India. Kotecha will take over from PepsiCo India's current top boss after expat chief Ahmed ElSheikh moves on. Kotecha was PepsiCo's senior vice president and chief commercial officer for AMESA (Africa, Middle East and South Asia regions). Kotecha's extensive experience in the snacks business made him the ideal executive for the job, the food and beverage major accelerates its snacks business. Kotecha is an experienced sales, brand and Country Manager with end-to-end P&L responsibility. He is a commercial digital transformation and business transformation leader with experience in markets across Asia, Middle East and Africa. In 2018, when Kotecha was vice president for PepsiCo India’s snacking category, he oversaw the innovations and transformations of Lay's and Kurkure to make them better suit Indian tastes and preferences. He also led the launch of India-made Doritos in 2017.

Kotecha started his career in 1992 with Cadbury and moved to PepsiCo India in sales and marketing in 1994. Kotecha has an MBA from SVKM's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) and a B.E Chemical Engineering from the University of Mumbai.

Hemant Bakshi

Hemant Bakshi, who led Unilever Indonesia as executive vice president - Unilever marketplace and chairman, joined Ola as chief executive vice officer. Bakshi took over from Bhavish Aggarwal. As the president director of Unilever Indonesia, he was in-charge of its full responsibility. Bakshi recently revealed that he moonlighted as a cab driver by night in Bengaluru to gain a better understanding of customer experience, expectations and service level requirements. Bakshi started his career with Unilever as executive director of sales and customer development. 


Sandeep Kohli

In July 2022, Sandeep Kohli took over Unilever Indonesia as general manager and board member. Now he is set to return to India to lead Aditya Birla Group's jewellery venture as CEO. Kohli, who has more than three decades of experience, began his career at Hindustan Unilever as a sales manager. He rose to become the head of marketing, foods division at Unilever, Philippines. He has held extensive roles in different capacities in countries like London and Singapore as global brand director and vice president, Greater China, South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, and a masters in management degree from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS).


Nikhil Sharma

Nikhil Sharma is new managing director of Italian confectionery major Perfetti Van Melle's India operations. Sharma was previously the managing director for Perfetti Van Melle’s Philippines and Vietnam branch. His journey began with Perfetti Van Melle (PVM) in 1999 as a Management Trainee, serving various roles in Sales and Marketing. He was heading the Marketing function in 2012. From 2015 he moved to General Management and went overseas to head PVM Philippines, followed by being appointed the Managing Director of PVM Vietnam. During his previous stint in India, under his leadership, PVM launched several successful campaigns - Alpenliebe Kajol and the Crocodile, re-launch of Big Babol ads, Chlormint Salman Khan campaign 'Dobara mat poochna' and Lollipops – Lagey Raho. Starting February 2024, he will be running the India business as Managing Director, leveraging his global experience on Perfetti's Indian chapter.

Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/quantum-brief/hul-meet-the-leaders-who-have-emerged-from-the-ceo-factory-21397.htm">HUL: Meet the leaders who have emerged from "The CEO Factory"</a>

CXO