Bata appoints Vodafone's Sandeep Kataria as country manager

KOLKATA: Shoe maker Bata India on Tuesday announced the appointment of Sandeep Kataria as the country manager, who was earlier the chief commercial officer at Vodafone India.

The erstwhile India chief Rajeev Gopalakrishnan has been elevated as president of Asia South. He will be based out of Singapore and will be responsible for India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Australia & New Zealand markets. Kataria will be reporting to Gopalakrishnan.

Mr Gopalakrishnan said Kataria will play a critical role in continuing to build Bata as a contemporary and stylish brand, keeping in mind the changing consumer trend in India and will drive the company to achieve the accelerated growth plan.

Mr Kataria has over two decades experience in the consumer industry. He had earlier held roles ranging from regional sales manager to global brand director in Unilever and from chief marketing officer to chief executive officer in Yum! Brands. He holds a B.Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

While the announcement was made after trading hours, the Bata India scrip fell by 0.32% on Tuesday to close at Rs 585.6 on the Bombay Stock Exchange when the benchmark Sensex was up by 0.19%.