Henkel, a leading global player in adhesives, home care and beauty care, has appointed Shilip Kumar as the president of its India business, effective 1 June 2016. Besides steering the adhesives and beauty care businesses of Henkel Adhesives Technologies India (Henkel India), Kumar will continue in his existing role of business director for Transportation and Metal Adhesives SBU in the India, Middle East, Africa (IMEA) regions. Kumar succeeds Jeremy Hunter, who led the India business for over five years and has now moved on to Shanghai as president of Henkel China. Based out of Henkel India’s head office at Navi
Mumbai, Kumar will be responsible for leading Henkel’s businesses in India through its next growth phase.
Kumar started his journey with Henkel in 2011, where he was responsible for integrating the SBU’s operations across three legal entities, including two joint ventures, to leverage the scale of its business in the country. He also spearheaded the India Innovation Centre – Pune project for Henkel. The centre was commissioned in October 2013 and has since contributed significantly to the success of Henkel’s adhesives business in India. Kumar was promoted as business director of Transportation and Metal SBU in the then newly created region of India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA) in April 2013 and has since successfully led the profitable growth of that business. He relocated to the IMEA regional headquarters in Dubai in January 2015.
Commenting on his new role Kumar said, “I am pleased to take up the additional responsibility as president of Henkel India. India offers considerable growth potential for Henkel and it will be our endeavor to ensure that we utilize effectively the resources and investments made by our parent company to capitalize on this potential. Our focus remains on delivering innovative technologies and solutions that help create value for our customers in the country.”
