Diageo India ropes in former McKinsey partner as MD

BANGALORE: Global drinks leader Diageo continues to uncork surprises in the Indian market. Asif Adil, a former partner at McKinsey & Co, has taken charge of the giant’s domestic operations as the new managing director.

The induction of Mr Adil, who has no operational experience in the liquor industry, comes even as Diageo is working on restructuring its Indian presence by forging a marketing and distribution JV with Radico Khaitan. Diageo did not comment when contacted.

Mr Adil replaces Ravi Rajagopal who is returning to Diageo’s UK system after heading the local operations for a relatively short period. Mr Adil has been on the board of various consumer product companies, including that of Shaw Wallace & Co.

Diageo has been attempting to refurbish its Indian business after the still hotly-debated move to exit the Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) market some five years ago.

The IMFL episode was clearly aimed at facilitating a focused development of its international portfolio - including Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, VAT 69 - in the country.

Informed sources said Diageo was keen on establishing a better presence in growing markets like India and China where it lags behind global rival Groupe Pernod Ricard. The French behemoth runs a profitable IMFL business and has made significant inroads into the China market, too.

Incidentally, Diageo’s exit from IMFL came after it had made a cut into the marketplace, and was poised to make bigger strides. The company has mulled re-entry into IMFL if industry information is any indication.

It must be mentioned that developing a robust base in the Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) markets is essential for Diageo as the mature market is expected to return sedate-to-moderate growth figures.

In this context, the entry of Mr Adil, who advised Shaw Wallace, and joint venture talks with Radico are significant steps for the company in search of India story.