Dabur India Restructures Leadership: Herjit S. Bhalla Named India CEO, Three Senior Executives Exit Senior Management Category

Dabur India has formally restructured its senior leadership framework, with the company's board approving a revised organisational structure at its meeting on July 29, 2026 - the most significant leadership realignment at the FMCG major in recent years.

The restructuring follows the appointment of Herjit S. Bhalla as Chief Executive Officer - India Business, effective April 23, 2026, reporting to the Global Chief Executive Officer. As part of the restructuring, Rehan Hasan, Executive Vice President - Sales; Sriram Padmanabhan, Director - Healthcare; and Abhishek Jugran, Director - Home and Personal Care and Foods, have ceased to be classified as Senior Management Personnel with effect from July 29, 2026.

The company clarified that the change is purely a result of the internal management restructuring. All three executives will continue to be associated with Dabur in their existing roles and responsibilities, but will now report to Herjit S. Bhalla as part of the revised organisational structure.

The Two-CEO Structure

The restructuring completes a separation of global and domestic leadership that Dabur's board first signalled in February 2026. Mohit Malhotra, previously Whole Time Director and CEO, was redesignated as Whole Time Director and Global Chief Executive Officer effective February 17, 2026 - reflecting an increased focus on expanding the company's international footprint. Bhalla's appointment as India CEO creates a parallel domestic leadership track, with both roles reporting upward to Malhotra in his global capacity.

Bhalla's mandate centres on strengthening category leadership, accelerating growth, and improving execution across Dabur's core domestic portfolio at a time when competition in the fast-moving consumer goods sector is intensifying.

Who Is Herjit S. Bhalla

Bhalla brings more than 25 years of expertise from senior roles at Unilever, Metro Cash & Carry, and The Hershey Company. He spent 16 years at Unilever in sales and marketing roles across Indian and international markets. He holds a B.Com degree from the University of Delhi and an MBA from Management Development Institute, Gurugram.

His appointment brings a combination of deep FMCG distribution experience, international market exposure, and category management expertise to the India CEO role - credentials well-suited to the challenge of defending and growing Dabur's position across healthcare, personal care, foods, and beverages in an increasingly competitive domestic market.

The Broader Context

The leadership restructuring arrives as Dabur navigates a period of strategic reinvention. The company spent Rs 888 crore on advertising in FY26, launched a Digital Marketing GCC powered by AI, invested Rs 60 crore in premium skincare D2C brand RAS Beauty through its Dabur Ventures platform, and introduced new products across categories ranging from cocktail mixers to A2 cow ghee. Separating the India CEO role from the Global CEO signals that Dabur intends to pursue both domestic category battles and international growth simultaneously - requiring distinct leadership focus on each front.

The disclosure was made in compliance with Regulation 30 of the SEBI Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, 2015.