At least five veterans in some of India’s top firms will retire in FY26, paving the way for their successors at the corner office. While Nestle India’s CMD Suresh Narayanan, Titan’s MD CK Venkataraman, Voltas’s MD Pradeep Bakshi and Pidilite’s MD Bharat Puri will retire in FY26, Avenue Supermarts’ MD & CEO Neville Noronha has decided against renewing his contract, which ends in January 2026. Unilever veteran Anshul Asawa, currently CEO-designate, will formally take over from Noronha, who spent over two decades at the firm, in February next year.
CEO changes will be visible in sectors such as telecom and auto as well, where veteran Gopal Vittal will step down as MD & CEO of Bharti Airtel in January 2026 and Takashi Nakajima will be the new president & CEO of Honda Cars India next month.
Some experts say that it is simply a matter of co-incidence that so many departures have happened at the same time. Still others reason that boards are getting hyperactive at a time when technological and consumer shifts are prompting companies to be future-ready and induct new leaders who are better prepared to take these firms to the next level.
“The departures are a combination of retirement and some who may be looking at external opportunities,” says Harish HV, MD at Bengaluru-based ECube Investment Advisors. “At a broader level though, boards are gearing up for the future and have put successors in place who can take these firms to the next phase of growth,” he says.
For instance, Nestle India’s new MD Manish Tiwary, who was earlier with Amazon, is expected to give the company a digital edge at a time when direct-to-consumer brands are eating away market share of traditional fast-moving consumer goods companies. He is also expected to press the accelerator in terms of rolling out digital-first initiatives and tap emerging channels such as q-commerce even more aggressively, experts said.
The same goes for firms such as Titan, Voltas and DMart, whose new CEOs are expected to focus on a greater omnichannel presence to drive growth. Pidilite’s MD designate Sudanshu Vats has indicated that the company is looking at growing its presence in sectors such as paints as it seeks to diversify its presence beyond adhesives, waterproofing and construction materials.
Ajay Shah, founder and president of upGrad Rekrut, which is into staffing, recruitment and skilling solutions for companies, says that the banking sector has seen a spate of leadership changes in FY25. Shah believes that every leadership change will usher a new era for the firm.
In recent times, Dinesh Khara retired as SBI chairman in August to make way for CS Setty while Shyam Srinivasan retired as MD & CEO of Federal Bank in September paving the way for KVS Manian. Atul Kumar Goel and Shanti Lal Jain vacated their positions as MD & CEO of Punjab National Bank and Indian Bank respectively in December to make way for Ashok Chandra and Binod Kumar.