GCPL’s Board of Directors approves the nomination of Shalini Puchalapalli, Managing Director and Country Head for Google Customer Solutions as Independent Director, taking the representation of women directors on the Board to 50%

Bangalore, India – June 6, 2023: Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL)  announced that its Board of Directors has approved the nomination of Shalini Puchalapalli as Independent Director, effective November 14, 2023. Narendra Ambwani, Independent Director, will retire in November 2023, after serving for 12 years on the GCPL Board.

Shalini’s appointment will enable GCPL to leverage her significant expertise in digital and technology to guide GCPL’s growth strategy. She will be the sixth woman director on the GCPL board, taking the representation of women directors to 50% when she joins the Board. 

Commenting on this announcement, Nisaba Godrej, Executive Chairperson, GCPL, said: 

“We are delighted  that Shalini Puchalapalli has been nominated to join the GCPL Board of Directors. Shalini’s leadership and deep expertise in both FMCG and technology will be very helpful in guiding our transformational journey. 

I am especially proud that when she joins we will have 50% women representation on the Board; an important step in our commitment to ensuring equitable gender representation at the most senior levels of leadership at GCPL.”

Shalini is Managing Director and Country Head for Google Customer Solutions, where she is building the digital ecosystem for India. Her previous roles include Category Director with Amazon India and CEO for Lehar Foods Business for PepsiCo. Shalini did her bachelors in engineering from IIT, Madras, Personnel Management from XLRI, and MBA from INSEAD.

Shalini has been honoured as a  ‘Young Global Leader’ by the World Economic Forum. She has also been awarded the ’40 under 40 Influential Leaders Award’ by Economic Times and Spencer Stuart in 2014 and recognised as one of the ‘Women Leaders to Watch in 2015’. 

Shalini Puchalapalli expressed her pleasure at being nominated to the GCPL Board, saying:

“I am excited and inspired by GCPL’s purpose of bringing the goodness of health and beauty to consumers in emerging markets; the strong track record of shareholder value creation and continued commitment to inclusive, sustainable growth. I look forward to partnering the GCPL team to achieve their ambitious aspirations.”