Board of Directors

Mr. Nadir Godrej is the Chairperson of Godrej Industries Group and the Chairperson and Managing Director of Godrej Industries Limited.

Mr. Nadir Godrej is also the Chairperson and Non-Executive Director of Godrej Agrovet Limited.

He received a B. S. degree in Chemical Engineering in 1973 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1974 from Stanford University. He also earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1976. Since 1977, he has been a Director of Godrej Soaps Limited. He has been very active in developing the animal feed, agricultural inputs, and chemicals businesses of Godrej Industries Group. He has also been very active in research and holds several patents in the field of agricultural chemicals and surfactants.

In 2001, Godrej Soaps Limited was renamed Godrej Industries, and he was appointed Managing Director. He is also the Chairman of Godrej Agrovet and a Director of Godrej Properties, both subsidiaries of Godrej Industries Group. He serves as a Director of Godrej Consumer Products, Astec Life Sciences Limited and other Godrej Industries Group companies.

He has been active in various industry associations, including CLFMA (Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association of India), ICC (Indian Chemical Council) [erstwhile ICMA (Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association)], OTAI (Oil Technologists’ Association of India), and the Alliance Française de Bombay. He is currently the President of the Alliance Française de Bombay. He is on the National Council of CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) and is very active in the Harvard Business School and MIT Alumni Association in India.

The French government awarded him the Ordre National du Mérite in 2002 and the Légion d’Honneur in 2008. He has also received Lifetime Achievement Awards from OTAI (Oil Technologist Association of India), Chemexcil and the All India Liquid Bulk Importers and Exporters Association (AILBIEA) & from Indian Chemical Council. The Board of Management of Manav Rachna University has unanimously conferred Mr. Godrej an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He has been inducted as a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) and has also received a Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management from XIM University, Bhubaneswar, in recognition of his contribution to industry and society. He was also honoured with a D Sc. (Honoris Causa) by Institute of Chemical Technology.

Mr. Godrej is deeply committed to the Good and Green strategies and the achievement of set targets for the Godrej Industries Group. He encourages and supports a shared vision value for all programs of Good and Green.

Mr. Sunil Kataria is currently the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Godrej Agrovet Limited (Holding Company).

Mr. Sunil Kataria is a seasoned business leader with over thirty years of rich experience in the CPG, telecom, and retail sectors. He has a proven track record of leading large- scale business transformations and building future-ready organizations. He is also an expert in sales, marketing, business strategy, and organizational leadership.

Mr. Sunil Kataria previously served as the Managing Director of Raymond Lifestyle Limited (RLL), overseeing a diverse portfolio of six businesses. Before joining Raymond, he spent 11 successful years at Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), as CEO of the India & SAARC cluster from 2015 to 2022. He began his career at Marico, where he spent over a decade honing his skills in marketing and sales.

His industry contributions also include serving as Chairman of the Indian Society of Advertisers and holding board positions at the Broadcasting Audience Research Committee (BARC) and Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).

Mr. Sunil Kataria holds a degree in Economics from Delhi University and an MBA in Marketing from the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad. He has been recognised among India’s top business leaders and is a firm believer in ‘possibility thinking’, seamlessly blending strategic vision with flawless execution.

S. Varadaraj is Chief Financial Officer and Head – Finance & Legal of Godrej Agrovet Limited (GAVL).

Mr. Varadaraj took over as the Head of Finance and Systems in 2005. In 2010, he also took on the additional responsibility of the Legal and Secretarial functions of GAVL and its group companies. In addition, he is a Director on the Boards of Godrej Foods Limited, Godrej Cattle Genetics Private Limited and Godvet Agrochem Limited.

A Commerce graduate and a Chartered Accountant, Varadaraj is also a qualified Cost Accountant and holds a Master's degree in Financial Management. He joined GAVL as a Management Trainee in May 1994.

Mr. Varadaraj has been the recipient of several awards and certificates, such as the 'CA-CFO Award in the Agricultural Sector' from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, 'CFO 100 Award' from the CFO Institute for three consecutive years and a 'Certificate of Merit - CMA CFO Award in the category of Private-Manufacturing' from the Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

His hobbies include trekking and playing cricket and squash.

Mr. Jude Fernandes has vast experience in FMCG sector. He has 3 decades of handling high- pressure FMCG majors participating in exceeding competitive categories and successful launches of innumerable brands for Amrutanjan, GCPL, Godrej Agrovet, TTK Prestige, Big Bazaar, Lipton India, LIC, Union Bank, P&GG etc.

He has completed his B.Com. (Hons) from St. Xavier’s College Calcutta.

He started his career in 1982 with major companies heading the key roles.

From 2001- 2007, he was the President of Mudra Communication in Mumbai

Responsible for turning this office into Mudra’s largest profit centre and the star of the Group. Responsibility revolved around building this office into a complete agency capable of handling the largest clients, building dedicated teams to provide top class inputs to the clients.

From 2007 to 2011, he was the Executive Director of Mudra Communications and CEO of Mudra India Responsible for Mudra’s largest profit centre. Integration of the agency’s ATL and BTL offerings. Growth of South India branches, training and development of next line of key managers. Retention of key accounts and aggressive new business development.

From 2011 till date, he is the Corporate Advisor to L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, a top 10 advertising agency and Mentor to the MD and CEO. Responsibilities cover implementation of best agency management practices, advisory on key FMCG clients.

Mr. Kannan Sitaram is B. Tech from IIT, Madras and MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. He has participated in executive programs at Carnegie Mellon and Kellogg Business School.

Mr. Kannan has over 3 decades of experience building consumer product businesses in India. He started his career with Ponds (India) Limited and had several stints as a Sales and Brand and Category Manager. He moved to Hindustan Lever Limited ("HLL") in 1993, post Unilever's global acquisition of Chesebrough Ponds. At HLL, he held several Senior Leadership positions first as National Sales Manager for the rapidly growing personal products business, then as National Sales Manager for the Detergents business, at that time India's largest consumer product business. In these roles he led HLL's thrust into rural markets and played a key role in several restructuring initiatives. He, thereafter, was Head of Marketing for HLL's large beverages business where he led the consolidation of the tea business under 2 brands - Brooke Bond and Lipton. He then moved to Unilever's corporate Head Quarter in London in 2002 to join the Corporate Strategy Group where he worked with Unilever's Executive Committee to develop Unilever's global corporate strategy across the foods, home care and personal care businesses.

In 2006, Mr. Kannan joined Dabur India Limited, a leading Indian CPG company as Chief Operating Officer responsible for Dabur's consumer product businesses in India, Nepal and Bangladesh including foods, health care, personal care and home care. His leadership challenges during this assignment included accelerating Dabur's revenue and profit growth and successfully integrating 2 acquisitions - Balsara and Fem. In 2010, Kannan joined India Equity Partners (IEP) as an Operating Partner where he worked with the investing team exploring investments in the consumer products sector and as CEO of Innovative Foods, a company in the frozen foods business. He successfully managed IEP's exit from Innovative Foods to Peepul Capital. He left Innovative Foods in 2017 to join the board at Fireside as Venture Partner. Fireside is a venture capital fund focused on investing in early stage consumer companies and Mr. Kannan mentors many of these young companies.

Mr. Kannan is also an Independent Director of Godrej Agrovet Limited.

Ms. Anjali Rajesh Gupte holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce and is a qualified Chartered Accountant & Cost Accountant.

Ms. Gupte has over 30 years of experience, having handled various functions in Finance across a varied range of industries, including Media, Financial Services, Manufacturing and Real Estate. Key areas of expertise include strategic business partnering, financial reporting, controllership, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, business integration and reorganising business for growth and compliance.

In her recent assignments, Ms. Gupte was Director and Group Chief Financial Officer for Havas Group, India (2021-2023) and as Chief Financial Officer, South Asia for Grey Worldwide (2016-2021). Prior to this, she was the Head of Finance, South Asia & Director for Thomson Reuters India Private Limited (2008-2014) and Finance Manager, South Asia & Director at Reuters India (1998-2008). Ms. Gupte worked as a Finance Manager in Godrej Properties & Investment Limited (1995-1997) and as a Finance Executive in Gujarat Godrej Innovative Chemicals Limited (1993-1995).