India's largest cellular services provider Bharti Airtel Ltd has elevated Nilanjan Roy as global chief financial officer (CFO), the company said on Tuesday. His appointment is effective from August 5, 2015.
Roy will take over from Srikanth Balachandran, who is being appointed as global chief human resources officer.
Meanwhile, the company has roped in Rajiv Mathrani from Pepsico as chief brand officer (CBO) for its Indian operations. Mathrani will take over the role of Mohit Beotra, who has decided to leave Airtel to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities.
Roy, who is currently CFO for the India & South Asia business, has previously held the roles of financial controller and controller - India mobile business.
Balachandran joined Airtel in 2008 as CFO. Previously, he worked with Unilever as vice-president, finance.
Mathrani joined Airtel in 2010 from Lowe Lintas India Ltd and during his tenure, he led the campaign HFZ (har friend zaroori). He is also responsible for its media and retail marketing investments.
In his role as CBO at Airtel, Mathrani will lead the company's brand positioning, strategic initiatives and associations, and will report to Srini Gopalan, director of consumer business, Bharti Airtel, India.
Mathrani, who has over one-and-a-half decades of experience, was leading the snacks category and portfolio strategy for Lay’s, Kurkure, Uncle Chipps and Cheetos at Pepsico and activated the first edition of Pepsi IPL. He also launched Lay's Maxx.
"His leadership and rich experience will significantly contribute to strengthening the bond that brand Airtel enjoys with its customers, and contribute to our endeavour of building a brand of the future. I also take the opportunity to thank Mohit for his valuable contribution in creating some of the iconic campaigns for us and wish him all the success as he pursues his dream," said Srini Gopalan, consumer director of Airtel India.
Prior to Pesico, he has associated with various other companies and has held leadership, marketing and sales roles in the country. These include Marico Industries, Citibank and Glaxo SmithKline Consumer Healthcare. At Marico, he launched Parachute Advansed, the coconut hair oil.
Mathrani graduated in production engineering from University of Mumbai and did his MBA from Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.