Board of Directors

Ms. Prabha Narasimhan is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited. Ms. Narasimhan joined Colgate in 2022 from Hindustan Unilever (HUL), where she led the Home Care category as Executive Director and served as a member of the HUL Leadership Team. Ms. Narasimhan has nearly 28 years of rich and varied experience in Customer Development, Consumer Marketing and Innovation across geographies and multiple categories, including Home Care, Foods, Personal & Skin Care. She is a graduate of the India Institute of Management Bangalore and Melbourne Business School.

Mr. M.S. Jacob joined Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited in 1995 in the Continuous Improvement Group. During his tenure of over 30 years at Colgate, Mr. Jacob served through leadership roles in Finance at Colgate-Palmolive Company’s subsidiaries in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia as well as at the Asia Pacific Division Headquartered at Hong Kong. His last assignment was as the Finance Director of Colgate-Palmolive Malaysia. As the Chief Financial Officer of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited, Mr. Jacob provides overall financial leadership including on Investor Relations matters. Appointed as a Whole-time Director on the Board of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited in October 2016.

He has served for 9 years in the Indian Administrative Service and also worked as a Senior Economist with the World Bank before joining the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1997.During his tenure with ADB ,  Dr. Bhushan held several key positions, including Director General of the East Asia Department and Director General of the Strategy and Policy Department. He played a pivotal role in ADB’s engagement with several Asian economies, notably the People & Republic of China. 

Dr. Bhushan was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) and  he also spearheaded the implementation of the ambitious National Digital Health Mission, which was later renamed Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

He has received several awards in his career, including Population Award from the Government of Vietnam, Global Achievement Award from Johns Hopkins University, E-Governance Gold Medal from the Government of India and Gold Medal and distinguished alumnus award from BHU.

LIST OF OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS

• United Spirits Limited
• Balrampur Chini Mills Limited
• Godrej Properties Limited
• HDFC Securities IFSC Limited
• Godrej Projects Development Limited
• Apollo Healthco Limited
• Swasth Digital Health Foundation
• Vidhi Centre For Legal Policy
• ITC Hotels Limited
• Curefit Healthcare Private Limited

Ms. Sukanya Kripalu is a graduate of St. Xavier's College and an alumni of the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. She is a Consultant in the fields of marketing, strategy, advertising, and market research. She has a rich and varied work experience with leading corporates like Nestle India Limited, Cadbury India Limited and Kellogg's India. She was also the Chief Executive Officer of Quadra Advisory, a WPP group company. Appointed as a Director on the Board of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited in June 2018.

LIST OF OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS

• The India Cements Ltd
• Aditya Birla Real Estate Limited
• CEAT Limited
• Entertainment Network India Limited
• Hindalco Industries
• Hexaware Technologies
• Novel Jewels Limited
• Avanti Finance Private Limited

Mr. Sekhar Natarajan has a rich experience of the Agriculture and Rural sector, where he has spent most of his career and contributed significantly towards the growth and development of this industry and its farmer customers. After his retirement and now as Managing Partner of M/s. S.N Consultants, he continues to stay involved with the Agriculture Industry by providing advice and strategic guidance to local and international companies including private equity investors. He works closely with industry forums and opinion makers on policy matters and is also on the Board of several listed Indian companies. With a career spanning over three decades, he built Monsanto India as an organization leading growth and innovation in Indian agriculture. He continued his role as Chairman of Monsanto India Limited till its recent merger with Bayer CropScience Limited in September 2019, where he now holds the position of a Director, since October 2019. Earlier in his career with Monsanto, he was the India Region Lead, South Asia Business Lead, Business Development Head, Sales & Marketing Lead and Financial Controller. His stint as VP-Corporate Strategy at Monsanto’s headquarter in St Louis (USA) also increased his global exposure and perspective. A qualified Chartered Accountant and Cost Accountant, he possesses extensive knowledge of strategic thinking, business development and mergers & acquisitions. Appointed as a Director on the Board of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited in May 2020.

LIST OF OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS

• Bayer Cropscience Limited
• Ingersoll-Rand (India) Limited
• Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Private Limited
• Cummins India Limited
• Agvaya LLP

Mr. Sanjay Gupta is currently the President Google APAC. Prior to that he was the Country Head and Vice President of Google India and where he led teams that help businesses transform and grow by leveraging digital, with a focus on small and medium enterprises, women entrepreneurs, and start-ups and was driving key initiatives under Google’s mission in India of making India a leading digital economy. Mr. Gupta joined Google in early 2020 with a stellar career that spans nearly three decades across the sunrise sectors like media and entertainment, telecom and FMCG industry giving him deep understanding of India’s diverse consumer and business landscape. Before Google, Mr. Gupta was Managing Director of Star and Disney India where he played a pivotal role in extending Star’s traditional television content to digital consumers through Hotstar. He is also widely credited for building their sports business. Mr. Sanjay Gupta began his career at Hindustan Unilever, where he went onto lead marketing for two of the company's critical segments: Oral and Home care. He then moved to serve as Bharti Airtel’s Chief Marketing Officer for its mobile business, spearheading the growth agenda for the company. In addition to being a founder member of The/Nudge Foundation which works in the area of poverty alleviation, Mr. Gupta champions responsible progress for the Internet Industry in India in his capacity as a Chairperson of the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). He also actively invests time in mentoring young professionals, startup founders and is part of several advisory committees. Mr. Gupta is a post graduate from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kolkata, and is an engineer from Delhi College of Engineering. Sanjay currently lives in Mumbai.

LIST OF OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS

• IIM Calcutta Innovation Park
• IIMCIP Technology and Innovation Council

Ms. Gopika Pant has more than 39 years of legal experience and is dual qualified in India and New York, USA. She completed her BA Hons from St Stephens College 1982, LLB from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University 1985, was admitted to the Bar Council of Delhi 1985 and the New York State Bar Association, USA 1987 after completing her LLM from Columbia University in 1986 and is also a member of the ABA and The Supreme Court Bar Association. She worked in New York City during 1986-1990, returned to India and was named Partner in India’s leading law firm prior to setting up Indian Law Partners-ILP in 1999, which has offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. Ms. Gopika has significant experience in Indian corporate and commercial laws and is a specialist in cross border commercial transactions, inbound and outbound, including restructurings, acquisitions, JVs, business alliances, foreign portfolio investments, PE investments and exits, insolvency and bankruptcy, banking and finance, infrastructure and project finance and real property transactions. Apart from being an advisory to major brands across multiple industries, Ms Pant was also advising Times Bank in India’s first private banking merger with HDFC Bank and Japan Bank for International Cooperation in various equity and debt transactions, including in the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), Takshasila Hospitals and TechnoTrends Auto Parks and  KIA Motors (Korea).

Ms. Gopika is a keen environmentalist and has also completed a Diploma in Environmental Law with the World Wide Fund for Nature. She is an enthusiastic public speaker and has addressed various conferences in India, London, Singapore, Japan and the USA. She has also authored articles in various Indian and international publications. Appointed as a Director on the Board of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited in May 2020.

LIST OF OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS

• ABB India Limited
• Ranjit Nanda and Associates Private Limited
• Strategic Safe Management Private Limited
• Ranjit Nanda Design LLP
• Major League Baseball India LLP
• PayU Private Limited
• Tenneco Clean Air India Limited