Soon after Hindustan Unilever got a new MD and CEO, the company is also getting a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Niranjan Gupta, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hero MotoCorp, has been appointed as the CFO-designate and member of the HUL management committee with effect from September 1, 2025.
Gupta will take over from Ritesh Tiwari as executive director, finance and CFO, and join the board of the largest FMCG company in India from November 1, 2025.
Tiwari will move into a more global role at HUL's parent Unilever. There, he will be the global head of M&A and Treasury, from November 1, and will be based in London.
Gupta began his career at HUL, spending 20 years in various roles. Later, he spent three years at Vedanta before moving to Hero MotoCorp, the largest two-wheeler maker in the country, as CFO in 2017. He was elevated as the CEO of Hero MotoCorp in 2023. He had resigned from the bike maker earlier this year.
He played a pivotal role in strengthening the financial health of their business, creating a strategy for the long term and establishing strategic partnerships, including a collaboration with superbike maker Harley Davidson.
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Gupta's appointment as CFO comes just after the maker of Red Label tea and Surf detergent had appointed Priya Nair as the new MD and CEO, effective August 1. Nair had been president, beauty and well-being, at Unilever.
Nair said that Tiwari's elevation to a global role was yet another testament to HUL's strong leadership pipeline. She also expressed confidence that Gupta, as the new CFO, will play a pivotal role in steering the company towards its next phase of growth.
The leadership change at HUL comes at a time when the fast-moving consumer goods sector has been impacted by a slowdown in consumption, especially urban demand, but things are expected to turnaround looking ahead.