PM Sinha, 82, popularly known as Suman, former chairman of PepsiCo, India, and South Asia, passed away on Wednesday in Gurugram. Sinha, who was ailing for sometime, worked with Hindustan Unilever for more than a decade before joining PepsiCo India in 1993 and is credited with mentoring a generation of professionals who went on to head successful companies in the consumer space.
Though Sinha was PepsiCo India’s second chairman – the company entered India in 1989 – he was credited with laying its strong foundation in the country and successfully steering it through several agitations and opposition by several interest groups opposed to the entry of multinational companies then.
Sinha’s farewell at Pepsi in 2002 was a grand affair, attended by Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.
Sinha joined Bata as chairman in 2004 and is credited with restructuring the company.
Paying tributes to Sinha, MK Sharma, former vice-chairman of Hindustan Unilever said, “Extremely saddened to hear about the demise of Suman, a friend, philosopher and guide for me over four decades. He mentored me, coached me – indeed nurtured me into a professional and provided me insights into dealing with people at large and government in particular”. According to Sharma Sinha laid the basic foundation of success of what Pepsi is today.
Deepak Jolly, founder Consocia Advisory and former head of communications of Pepsi India, who worked with Sinha for 14 years, said, “Sinha was a legend and will be remembered for building some of the best CEOs for corporate India. He was my mentor and I would reach out to him for any complex issue and he was always ready to help.