HLL shunts out Banga

Alarmed over flat sales and profits, India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods company Hindustan Lever Ltd has made major changes in i...

Alarmed over flat sales and profits, India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods company Hindustan Lever Ltd has made major changes in its top management by dividing its businesses into two groups led by separate managing directors and easing Chairman M S ‘Vindi’ Banga out as a wholetime employee of the company.

M S Banga, chairman & wholetime director, has been moved as business group president of HPC Asia. ‘‘Thus, he will cease to be a whole-time employee of the company with effect from July 01, 2004. He will continue as a non-executive director and chairman of the board,’’ a HLL statement said. Banga, in his new capacity, would be based primarily out of Singapore.

HLL, a subsidiary of Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever, said the FMCG business will be reorganised into two divisions: home & personal care (HPC) and foods. The two divisions will operate with considerable autonomy, the statement added.

The HPC division will integrate the detergents and personal products businesses and have a management committee headed by Arun Adhikari, managing director.

The foods division will be led by S Ravindranath as a managing director. Vice Chairman M K Sharma, apart from HR and legal & secretarial, will now be responsible for marketing services, corporate affairs, corporate communication, and technology.Sharma, finance director D Sundaram, Adhikari and Ravindranath as wholetime directors/managing directors of the company, will constitute the national management for HLL to be chaired by Sharma.

The new ventures and non-FMCG businesses comprising plantations and specialty exports will continue to be headed by Dalip Sehgal, Executive Director – new ventures, Satish Dhall, Executive Director – Plantations and Anoop Mathur, Executive Director – technology and speciality exports, respectively.

Following a new team, Aart C Weijburg, Wholetime Director & Director – detergents resigned from the Board and will return to Unilever. Another Whole-time Director & Director – HR, Technology & Corporate Affairs Gurdip Singh resigned from the Board consequent to his retirement. Guneder Kapur, Executive Director – foods will move to an international assignment within Unilever.