NEW DELHI – Global personal care FMCG giant Colgate-Palmolive Limited announced that Prabha Narasimhan will be taking over as the managing director and CEO of their India operations from September 1, 2022. The announcement came just a week after Hindustan Unilever Limited made it public that she would be resigning from her roles as the executive director, home care and vice president, home care for Unilever South Asia. 

Meanwhile, Narasimhan’s predecessor Ram Raghavan will be working out of New York where he will be taking charge of the parent company as the president of enterprise oral care division for Colgate Palmolive Company. The nomination & remuneration committee approved his move to the company headquarters effective April 16, 2022. 

Prabha, an Indian Institute of Management Bangalore alumnus, becomes the first external hire to attain the top post in the company in twelve years. She has more than 23 years of experience in consumer marketing, of which 15 have been spent at HUL. She joined her current employer in 2006 as a regional marketing manager, and has risen through the ranks consistently over the years. She has experience of heading several categories like beauty, personal care, refreshments and others. 

Recounting her achievements, the HUL website says, “Under Prabha’s leadership in 2016-19, Hindustan Unilever’s Skin Care business delivered a spectacular market-beating growth rate. This was enabled by a broad-based performance delivery across all brands and sub-segments – Colours business delivering high double-digit growth during the entire tenure, strengthening of our flagship brand Glow & Lovely and entry into newer Skin Care segments. Prabha moved to the Home Care role in early 2020.”

In the press release that spoke of her departure from the company, HUL pointed out how she was their sustainability initiatives. Her passion for the environment is clearly visible in all her social media posts where she talks about products like cleaning supplies with plant-based, green carbon initiatives rather than harmful chemicals and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. 

“She has contributed immensely towards embedding the clean future agenda into the home care product development strategy,” HUL CEO and MD Sanjiv Mehta had said in the release. 

After the news of her appointment was made, stocks of Colgate-Palmolive India have risen by 2%.