PepsiCo appoints D Shivakumar as India head

Global beverages and snacks major PepsiCo on Monday roped in former Nokia head for emerging markets, including India, D Shivakumar as its Chairman and CEO, India Region.

The company also elevated Gautham Mukkavilli, current General Manager for PepsiCo India Beverages, as Senior Vice President, Business Transformation – AMEA (Asia, Middle East and Africa), effective March 1, 2014.

"Shivakumar will oversee all aspects of PepsiCo's India Region, which includes ...beverage brands such as Pepsi-Cola, Lay's potato chips, Slice mango beverage, Kurkure snacks, Tropicana juices and Quaker oats," PepsiCo said in a statement.

He would also be responsible for the NourishCo joint venture with Tata Global Beverages and franchise businesses in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, it added

"He will be responsible for strategically deploying the Rs 33,000 crore (Rs 330 billion) investment in India that PepsiCo announced last month," the company said.

Last month, PepsiCo had announced plans for the company and its partners to invest Rs 33,000 crore in India by 2020 to double its business capacity in India.

Commenting on the appointment, PepsiCo AMEA-CEO Sanjeev Chadha said both men will strengthen AMEA's position as the growth engine of PepsiCo as they brought their 'unique skills to bear in their respective roles'.

"I am thrilled to have two leaders of Shiv and Gautham's stature playing key roles in driving PepsiCo's business forward in AMEA," he added.

In this new role, Mukkavilli will oversee a range of strategic initiatives in both foods and beverages across Asia, Middle East and Africa. Both Shivakumar and Mukkavilli will report directly to Chadha.

"Shiv is one of India's most respected business leaders. He has a proven ability to take billion-dollar businesses to the next level by maximising innovation, execution and collaboration,"  PepsiCo Inc Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi said.

Shivakumar, as a senior executive with Nokia for most of the past decade, led India to become Nokia's top-ranked market by revenue and one of its most profitable geographies.

In his earlier stints, Shivakumar, has also worked with the likes of Hindustan Unilever and Philips Consumer Electronics India. He quit Nokia in March this year.

"I am thrilled to carry on the tradition of excellence, excitement and purpose that PepsiCo's extremely talented team has established," Shivakumar said.

Commenting on the elevation of Mukkavilli, Chadha said: "Gautham is one of our most respected senior leaders. The AMEA sector will benefit greatly from his strategic skill set as Gautham leads key transformational projects across our priority markets, including India."

The development comes in the wake of PepsiCo promoting Chadha to the position of Chief Executive Officer of its Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region operations, spanning across 90 countries.

Prior to the elevation, Chadha had been the President of PepsiCo Middle East and Africa.