Colgate-Palmolive India Limited has announced a leadership transition, with Manish Anandani appointed as the company’s new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, effective September 28, 2026.
The appointment follows Prabha Narasimhan’s elevation to Executive Vice President – Marketing, Asia-Pacific Division, Colgate-Palmolive, effective close of business on September 27, 2026.
During her four-year tenure as MD & CEO, Narasimhan led Colgate-Palmolive India through a period of transformation, strengthening its position as the oral care market leader. Her tenure included a focus on premiumisation, digital transformation, quick-commerce expansion and consumer-led innovation.
Under her leadership, premium portfolio growth accelerated to five times the pace of the broader market, while the company delivered volume-led growth and strong profitability. She also focused on expanding oral hygiene adoption across urban and rural markets and strengthened Colgate’s purpose-led initiatives, including Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures and the Oral Health Movement.
Narasimhan brings experience across multiple markets and consumer categories. Before joining Colgate-Palmolive India, she held senior leadership positions at Hindustan Unilever, including Executive Director for Home Care.
Her successor, Manish Anandani, brings around 30 years of experience across sales, marketing, general management and leadership roles. He joins Colgate-Palmolive India from Kenvue, where he served as Managing Director for India and South Asia.
Anandani has expertise in enterprise strategy, digital and e-commerce transformation and market expansion. His appointment also marks a return to Colgate-Palmolive, where he spent 13 years between 2005 and 2018, holding leadership positions across India, Indochina and the corporate office before becoming Worldwide Director in Global Customer Development.
The leadership transition comes as Colgate-Palmolive India continues to focus on premiumisation, category development, digital commerce and operational efficiency as key drivers of future growth.
The company has highlighted e-commerce and quick commerce as important growth engines, with its e-commerce business delivering high double-digit topline growth and more than 50% of sales coming from premium products. The company is also increasing investments behind its brands and growth opportunities as it marks 90 years of operations in India.