Beverages and foods maker PepsiCo has named D Shivakumar, former managing director of telecom firm Nokia as its chairman and CEO, India region.
PepsiCo has been without an India head since June this year. Manu Anand had quit the firm a few months ago to become president India and South Asia for Mondelez International and managing director of Cadbury India. Shivakumar had quit Nokia in June this year after serving the company for eight years. According to media reports, he is unlikely to join the telecom sector again.
Due to key leadership changes in PepsiCo, beverages and foods division heads Gautham Mukkavilli and Praveen Someshwar were reporting to Sanjeev Chadha, CEO of PepsiCo's Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA). Only in September this year, PepsiCo promoted Chadha as CEO of AMEA. Prior to this, Chadha was the president of PepsiCo’s operations in the Middle East and Africa.
Last month, PepsiCo, along with its local partners, announced plans to invest Rs 33,000 crore ($5.5 billion) in India by 2020 as it seeks to ramp up its game in the country. The appointment of Shivakumar as India CEO is expected to help the strategic deployment of this fund.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)