Henkel elevates Shilip Kumar as president of its India business

MUMBAI:German consumer giant Henkel has elevated Shilip Kumar as president of its India business.

He will succeed Jeremy Hunter, who led the Indian market for over five years, and has now moved to Shanghai as president - Henkel China. Hunter relocated to India after the company decided to divest their Indian FMCG division to Jyothy Labs and focus on the adhesives and cosmetics businesses.
Kumar who joined Henkel in 2011 will continue as business director of the transportation and metal SBU (strategic business unit) in India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA) region.

"India offers considerable growth potential for Henkel and it will be our endeavor to ensure that we utilize effectively the resources and investments made by our parent company to capitalize on this potential," Kumar said in a statement

Prior to Henkel, Kumar was with Dow Chemicals as the business director for Dow coating materials in South Asia. He started his career in 1989 with the management consultancy division of A.F. Fergusson & Co., followed by stints with Asian Paints and Rohm & Haas.

Within Henkel, he spearheaded the India Innovation centre – Pune project for which was commissioned three years ago.