India's Grasim Industries announces Hari Krishna Agarwal as new MD

Agarwal will succeed Dilip Gaur, who has opted for early retirement and will cease to be managing director and key managerial personnel as well as member of the board of directors of the company with effect from the close of business hours of November 30, 2021, the company said in a statement.

Agarwal is a business leader and a veteran of the Aditya Birla Group (ABG), having been part of ABG for close to four decades. During this period, he has held different roles in cement, chemicals and pulp and fibre businesses before taking on his current role as business head, pulp and fibre.

He started his career with ABG in 1982 as management trainee at Rajashree Cement, a division of Indian Rayon. He subsequently worked with TANFAC as chief commercial executive before moving to Thailand as vice president (commercial), Thai Peroxide in 1987 and became its unit head in 1995. In 2000, he moved to epoxy division in Thailand as unit head of Thai epoxy and was unit head of epoxy division and chlor alkali division from 2004 until 2009. In 2009, he moved to Thai Rayon as unit head and president.

In 2013, he took on the role of COO, pulp and fibre- SEA & China and country head, group affairs- Thailand. Agarwal returned to India in 2015 to take on the role of COO manufacturing with pulp and fibre.

Agarwal is a chartered accountant and has done an Executive MBA from Sasin, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. He is a recipient of Chairman’s Outstanding Leader Award, 2012.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)