Haleon Appoints Kedar Lele as President, India Subcontinent
Haleon has designated Kedar Lele as the President of the India Subcontinent, with his appointment set to begin in January of 2026. Kedar will be assuming a new position within the Haleon Executive Team (HET), the top leadership group within the company.
He is taking over from Navneet Saluja, who was the ISC General Manager and retired in October 2025.
Also Read: Dentsu Appoints Bishwarup Chakrabarti as its General Counsel
Kedar transitions to Haleon from his previous role as Managing Director at Castrol India Ltd. With over a quarter-century of experience spanning various industries such as FMCG, advertising, digital innovation, and automotive, he brings a wealth of knowledge to his new position.
Before joining Castrol, he amassed nearly two decades of experience at Hindustan Unilever Ltd, where he held key executive roles including Executive Director for Sales and Customer Development in South Asia, as well as Chairman & Managing Director of Unilever Bangladesh.
Kedar possesses an MBA in Strategic Marketing and Operations from the prestigious Indian School of Business, as well as a postgraduate diploma in Marketing Communications from MICA. He currently holds a position on the board of TVS Automobile Solutions and has prior experience as Vice President at the Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Bangladesh.
Also Read: Truecaller Names Vikas Khanna as Senior Director, Ad Sales
Kedar, in his role as President for the India Subcontinent, will be tasked with overseeing Haleon's activities in the area and fostering the company's goal of expanding its reach to an additional one billion customers by 2030.
This objective is in line with Haleon's commitment to improving daily health outcomes with a human touch.
Furthermore, Haleon declared that it would be adapting its operational structure to align with its Win as One approach, with plans to roll out the changes by the middle of 2026. A new position of Chief Growth Officer is being established by the company to supervise Category, Marketing, and Strategy departments, as well as a new worldwide Commercial Excellence team.
The CGO will be responsible for driving Haleon's growth and innovation initiatives in collaboration with recently formed Operating Units. Haleon is restructuring its regional setup by dividing it into six Operating Units. The existing EMEA & LatAm region will be divided into three distinct units: Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, and Europe. The India Subcontinent will be established as an independent Operating Unit, distinct from Asia Pacific, with North America staying the same.
Also Read: Ashwini Vaishnaw Praises Shipping of iPhones Worth $50 Billion
A new Chief Transformation Officer has been hired by the company to oversee the coordination of business processes, operating model, and technology changes. The CGO, CTO, and Presidents of each Operating Unit will all be part of Haleon's Executive Committee under CEO Brian McNamara.