Aasif Malbari appointed MD & CEO of Godrej Consumer Products
INDIA – Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) has appointed Aasif Malbari as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.
The board announced the change, naming Malbari, until then Global Chief Financial Officer and President, Godrej Africa, as the company’s new MD & CEO for a five-year term through August 2031, subject to shareholder approval.
The transition follows Sitapati’s resignation on August 11, just days after shareholders had approved his reappointment for another five years, making the leadership change a surprise to many analysts and investors.
In parallel, Vishal Kedia has been named interim CFO, adding finance responsibilities to his existing strategy and investor relations duties.
Malbari brings three decades of experience across FMCG and automotive sectors, having held senior roles at GCPL, Tata Motors and Hindustan Unilever.
As GCPL’s Global CFO, he oversaw business strategy and partnered with leadership teams across geographies to drive growth and strengthen performance.
His most cited operational achievement is the turnaround of GCPL’s Africa business, where he expanded the margin-accretive FMCG portfolio, led by the successful launch of the air care category, while reinforcing the legacy Hair Fashion business and lifting Africa’s EBITDA margins from roughly 9% in FY24 to about 15% in FY26.
Before GCPL, he was CFO at Tata Passenger Electric Mobility and a director at Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, where he helped scale the business, including a reorganisation and a USD 1 billion fundraise for the electric vehicle unit, and earlier worked at Hindustan Unilever in various finance and business roles.
A Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary, he secured All‑India First Rank in both the CA Intermediate and Final examinations.
Executive Chairperson Nisaba Godrej said Malbari’s deep command of GCPL’s strategy and operating rhythm, combined with his Africa transformation record, positions him to instil “ambitious, disciplined execution” across all businesses, and she thanked Sitapati for his “bold thinking” over the past five years.
In his statement, Malbari emphasised GCPL’s values of trust, innovation and boldness, and committed to elevating performance in core categories while accelerating new category growth.
The unexpected exit triggered a sharp sell‑off in GCPL shares, which fell about 10% on August 12 to multi‑year lows before partially recovering; analysts viewed the near‑term impact as negative for sentiment but did not expect a change in core strategy, with some brokerages retaining a “Buy” rating while cutting price targets by around 15%.
GCPL, part of the Godrej Industries Group, is a leading emerging‑markets FMCG company serving over 1.4 billion consumers in more than 85 countries, with revenues of about USD 1.6 billion and a market capitalisation of roughly USD 11 billion as of March 31, 2026.
In 2025, it was ranked number one globally in the Personal Products category on the Dow Jones Best‑in‑Class Sustainability Indices.
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