PepsiCo India’s D Shivakumar Quits To Join Aditya Birla Group As Head of Strategy 

PepsiCo India Chairman D Shivakumar will step down from the U.S.-based cola maker after four years to join the Aditya Birla Group as head of strategy and business development.

Shivakumar will replace D Muthukumaran who was the interim head of strategy after Saurabh Agarwal left to join Tata Sons, Aditya Birla Group’s Director of Human Resources, Santrupt Mishra, confirmed to BloombergQuint.

The $41-billion Aditya Birla group has businesses spread over sectors like telecommunications, cement, chemicals, mining, textile, financial services, retail and e-commerce, among others, across 36 countries.

Ahmed El Shiekh, currently senior vice president and general manager for PepsiCo Egypt and Jordan, will become the PepsiCo India CEO, the company said in an emailed statement.

Sheikh will take over as the cola giant’s India operations as CEO on November 1, while Shivakumar will continue with PepsiCo till December 31.

During Shivakumar’s tenure, PepsiCo India reported a net loss of Rs 280 crore in FY14 which further widened to Rs 538 crore in FY16, according to the company’s filings on Registrar of Companies.

Prior to joining PepsiCo India, he worked with Nokia India and fast-moving consumer giant Hindustan Unilever Ltd.