Leadership

Mr. Siraj Chaudhry is a renowned industry expert, innovator, thought leader, and prominent voice in the agriculture and food industry. He has collaborated extensively with various sectors, including the government, social sector, and industry, on various transformational and nation-building projects. He degree in B.Com (Hons.) from Delhi University, Masters in International Business from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.

With over 34 years of experience in building, acquiring, divesting, and turning around businesses, Mr. Chaudhry currently serves as the Chief Advisor and Non-Executive Chairman for SATS India. Previously, he was the Managing Director & CEO of NCML, where he played a pivotal role in expanding the company's footprint across the country and diversifying its operations, establishing it as a trusted and preferred agri-supply chain and solutions provider. He was also the Chairman of Cargill India, the Indian arm of Cargill Inc., where he led the build and expansion of Cargill's food business in India, making it a leading player in edible oils, flour, corn products, and food ingredients. During his tenure, Cargill's animal nutrition business and global business services footprint in India saw significant growth. Mr. Chaudhry is credited with spearheading Cargill's efforts in edible oil fortification, which was recognized by Fortune Magazine as a Change the World activity.

In addition to serving as a Non-Executive Director & Chairman Board of NCML, Mr. Chaudhry is an Independent Director on the boards of several companies, including Tata Consumers Products Ltd., Tata Coffee Ltd., Dhanuka Agritech Ltd., Jubilant Ingrevia Ltd, Bikaji Foods International Ltd., and Carrier Airconditioning & Refrigeration Ltd. He is also a member of the non-statutory advisory council of AB InBev, India.

Mr. Chaudhry has previously served as an Independent Director on the Board of IndusInd Bank and as a member of CDC Group plc (now BII) Food & Agriculture Advisory Council. He has chaired the National Committee on Food Processing and served as the Co-chair of the National Committee for Agriculture at FICCI. Mr. Chaudhry has also chaired the Agriculture and Food Committees at the American Chamber of Commerce and US India Business Council in India.

Ms. Shikha Sharma holds a degree in B.A (Hons.) in Economics, post-graduate diploma in Software Technology from National Center for Software Technology and Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM, Ahmedabad. With a wealth of experience in banking and insurance, she boasts an impressive track record. During her tenure, she successfully transformed Axis Bank Limited from a predominantly corporate lender to a bank with a robust retail deposit franchise and a well-balanced lending book.

Ms. Sharma embarked on her career with ICICI Bank in 1980. She served as the MD and CEO of ICICI Personal Financial Services from May 1998 to December 2000. Subsequently, she held the position of Managing Director and CEO at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company from December 2000 to June 2009. She later became the Managing Director and CEO of Axis Bank from June 2009 to December 2018.

Ms. Sharma has earned numerous accolades, including the CNBC TV18 Outstanding Businesswoman of the year, AIMA JRD TATA Corporate Leadership, and Business Standard's Banker of the Year. She has also been recognized as one of the Top 20 Women in Finance-by-Finance Asia and one of the 50 most powerful women in business by Fortune.

Ms. Sharma serves on the board of directors for several publicly listed companies, including Tata Consumer Products Limited, Tech Mahindra Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited, and Piramal Enterprises Limited. Additionally, she is an advisor /consultant to Piramal Enterprises Limited, Billionbrains Garage Ventures Private Limited, Bahaar Foundation - a unit of Akshati Charitable Trust and Google India Digital Services Pvt Ltd. She is also a member of the Board of Governors of IIM, Lucknow.

Mr. David Crean is a highly accomplished and experienced professional in the food industry with over 35 years of expertise in leadership, talent development, innovation, research and development, science, quality management, and food safety. He is graduated with a BA (Hons) Degree in Applied Biology from Liverpool Polytechnic.

He held multiple senior leadership positions at Mars Incorporated, including, when he retired, the dual roles of Vice President of Corporate R&D and Chief Science Officer, where he contributed significantly to the company's strategy.

Throughout his career, he led business growth initiatives, established global technology and research platforms, and most recently established various governance processes and performance standards for Mars' global businesses. He launched over 70 Mars products in multiple geographies and drove profitable business growth across emerging and developed markets.

Mr. Crean's passion and leadership have guided Mars' highly principled approach to science, research practices, policies, innovation, quality and food safety standards.

Mr. Crean's contributions extend beyond Mars as he participated in many events organized by the United Nations FAO and WHO while advocating for food security and safety.

Since he retired from Mars in 2021, he has continued to share his knowledge and expertise, serving as Chair of the Global Food Safety Initiatives (GFSI) Science and Technology Advisory Group and advising numerous global businesses and start-ups.

Ajit Krishnakumar is Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer of Tata Consumer Products, which he joined in 2020 as Chief Operating Officer.

Ajit joined the Tata Group in 2013 where he worked in the Group Chairman’s Office with strategy, corporate finance and M&A responsibilities for the consumer and other business verticals. He also served as the Tata Group nominee on the Boards of Directors of select affiliates. In 2019, he helped lead the Group’s effort to consolidate its multiple consumer packaged goods businesses into a single platform, now labelled Tata Consumer Products.

At Tata Consumer Products, he oversees business integration & transformation, the integrated India operations as well as the B2B businesses, among other corporate responsibilities.

Before he joined the Tata Group, Ajit was an investment banker and advisor with ~15 years of experience supporting large, medium and small companies think through and execute their strategic, financial and M&A choices. He has worked across a variety of industries and in several countries.

He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a BBA from the University of Hartford, Connecticut.

Ajit Krishnakumar is Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer of Tata Consumer Products, which he joined in 2020 as Chief Operating Officer.

Ajit joined the Tata Group in 2013 where he worked in the Group Chairman’s Office with strategy, corporate finance and M&A responsibilities for the consumer and other business verticals. He also served as the Tata Group nominee on the Boards of Directors of select affiliates. In 2019, he helped lead the Group’s effort to consolidate its multiple consumer packaged goods businesses into a single platform, now labelled Tata Consumer Products.

At Tata Consumer Products, he oversees business integration & transformation, the integrated India operations as well as the B2B businesses, among other corporate responsibilities.

Before he joined the Tata Group, Ajit was an investment banker and advisor with ~15 years of experience supporting large, medium and small companies think through and execute their strategic, financial and M&A choices. He has worked across a variety of industries and in several countries.

He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a BBA from the University of Hartford, Connecticut.

Ashish Goenka joined Tata Consumer Products in December 2023 as Group Chief Financial Officer. In this role, Ashish is responsible for the Integrated Finance function overseeing group accounts & finance, investments, capital structuring, forecasting and budgeting and providing strategic direction to businesses while developing and delivering annual, mid-term and long-term growth plans for the business.

Ashish brings over 20 years of experience across the Finance function, joining Tata Consumer Products from Jubilant Foodworks Limited, where he served as President & CFO. Prior to this, he held senior leadership positions with Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel. A double gold medallist from IIFT Delhi, where he completed his MBA, Ashish is also a qualified Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary. He graduated in Commerce from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata.

Mr. L. Krishnakumar serves as Senior Advisor to the Integrated Finance Function at Tata Consumer Products. Prior to this, he was Executive Director and Group CFO of the company. Mr. Krishnakumar started his career as a management consultant with A. F. Ferguson and Co. in India and the Middle East. He subsequently worked with Larsen and Toubro Ltd. across multiple functions as General Manager, Finance where he gained exposure to the fields of engineering, information technology, shipping and more. In 2000, Mr. Krishnakumar joined Tata Group in the hotels business as Vice-president – Finance and was appointed Senior Vice President – Finance of the erstwhile Tata Tea in India in 2004. During his tenure he has handled different roles for the Company in India and the UK. Mr. Krishnakumar is a Director on the Board of NourishCo Beverages, Tata Starbucks and several of the Company’s overseas subsidiaries in addition to Infiniti Retail. He has also been a member of finance forums of CII and Bombay Chamber. Mr. Krishnakumar is qualified in Chartered Accountancy, Cost Accountancy and Company Secretarial.

Gharry Eccles joined Tata Consumer Products in January 2022 as President - International Business and is based in London. In this role he is responsible for the business performance of international markets, including the development of a strong portfolio of brands, improved business growth and profitability, driving new products and innovation, and executing on new growth opportunities across markets and regions.

With over 3 decades of rich experience in consumer products, Gharry was previously with Cereal Partners Worldwide– a joint venture between Nestle and General Mills, where he was Vice President, with business responsibility for the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand covering over 1000 employees, 3 factories and 2 R&D centres. Prior to this, he held various leadership positions across organizations such as PZ Cussons PLC, Muller Dairy Ltd, The Wrigley Company and Kimberly Clarke, Europe.

He is a post-graduate in marketing from Kingston Business School.

Gharry is married with two teenage children. Outside work, he enjoys playing tennis, watching films and reading.

Vikas Gupta was appointed Global Head of R&D for Tata Consumer Products in June 2020. He began as Head of Product Innovation for India in 2013 and was appointed Head of Global NPD in 2017 for the beverages business. Vikas has played a key role in achieving successful launches of innovation projects for the tea and coffee category globally. 

Vikas brings diverse experience of the Food &Beverages industry with demonstrated leadership capabilities in New Product Development, Cost Innovation and Supply Chain to develop and launch innovation projects. Previously, he spent almost a decade in GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Limited across R&D and Supply Chain functions and 3 years with Hindustan Unilever Ltd. in the R&D function. 

Vikas has a master’s in Food Technology from the Central Food Technology Research Institute, Mysore and is a graduate in Horticulture from University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, Himachal Pradesh.

Vikas is based in Bangalore. He is an avid marathon runner who has completed more than dozens of half and full marathons. He is married and has two children. 
 

Deepika Bhan joined Tata Consumer Products in May 2021, as President - Foods Business. Prior to this, she spent 15 years at Hindustan Unilever Ltd., most recently as the Global Brand Director where she led the brand development, innovation and communication agenda for the Hair Care portfolio for South Asia. 

Having worked on leadership assignments across Sales & Marketing, Deepika brings her rich experience and expertise in brand crafting and communication, driving innovation, building new categories and P&L management combined with a strong understanding of frontline sales. She is particularly passionate about building brands and business with purpose at its heart. 

Deepika is an Economics (Hons) graduate from St. Xavier’s’ College and holds a master’s degree in business administration from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, Orissa.

An avid reader, gourmet cook, travel and nature enthusiast, Deepika resides in Mumbai with her husband and two children. 
 

Vikram Grover joined Tata Consumer Products in 2011 as Marketing Head for South Asia. He has played a key role in achieving several milestones for the Company’s branded tea business and for the liquid beverages business in India. Now he leads the subsidiary, NourishCo Beverages. Prior to this, Vikram worked across sales, marketing, and strategy at Hindustan Unilever Ltd. in India and in Unilever France and Indonesia holding significant roles such as Global strategy and Brand Director.

He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) and a bachelor’s from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh.

In his spare time, Vikram loves spending time with his two dogs.

Punit Gupta joined Tata Consumer Products in April 2021 and currently leads the Sales function for India business. Prior to heading sales, he was heading Strategy and M&A, where he drove multiple strategy engagements and led marquee acquisitions for Tata Consumer Products. Punit has over 19 years of experience across operational and consulting roles including leading and delivering large-scale, complex transformation engagements across India, APAC, Europe and North America. Prior to Tata Consumer, Punit headed business strategy for Samsung Electronics for South-West Asia driving strategic initiatives for the smartphone and the consumer durables businesses. Punit started his career in operational roles with Asian Paints and Hindustan Unilever Ltd., where he managed large sales teams across India, spanning more than 40 FMCG product categories like decorative paints, home and personal care, and foods & beverages. During his strategy consulting assignments with Accenture and A.T. Kearney, Punit led 30+ CXO level engagements with cross-functional teams across the globe.

Abhijit Midha, is serving as the Senior Vice President - Strategy and M&A of the Company w.e.f. December 27, 2023.

Prior to joining Tata Consumer Products Limited, Abhijit Midha was a Senior Vice President – Key Accounts with Zomato Ltd. Abhijit has worked for 17.5 years across organizations including McKinsey & Company, Citigroup Venture Capital International (CVCI), CK Birla Group and Premji Invest. Abhijit comes in with extensive experience in Private Equity, Strategy, M&A, Business Transformation and Value Creation in sectors such as Consumer Goods, Retail, Healthcare and Financial Services.

Abhijit graduated from IIT Delhi in 2004 where he secured the Institute Silver Medal, and is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, batch of 2006.