Mahindra Group appoints new chief group officer for public affairs

Abanti Sankaranarayanan will be part of the group executive board, reporting to the CEO

Mahindra Group has appointed Abanti Sankaranarayanan as chief group public affairs officer effective July 1, the company said in a statement on Friday.

Sankaranarayanan will lead group public affairs (India and international), group sustainability and group risk and economist functions. She will be part of the group executive board and report to Anish Shah, managing director and CEO of Mahindra Group.

Sankaranarayanan takes over the public affairs portfolio from Manoj Chugh, who retires on April 1, 2023.

“At the Mahindra Group, public policy and sustainability are pivotal and we are committed to leading ESG globally. Abanti is an accomplished business leader with vast experience across corporate affairs, social impact, strategy and managing large businesses. I am confident that she will be able to build the functions and help us in achieving our goals," said Shah in the company statement.

Before joining the Mahindra Group, Sankaranarayanan was Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer & Member – Executive Committee at Diageo India where her responsibilities included Public Policy, Regulatory and Trade, Market Access, Corporate Communication, Corporate Social Impact, Strategy and Ventures.

Abanti joined Diageo India as Marketing and Innovation leader in 2010 and was subsequently promoted to Managing Director, Diageo India Pvt Ltd, leading Diageo’s business mandate for international spirits in India. She assumed the role of Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Director for the region in 2015, setting up these new functions as core and strategic to the business and a strong and integrated business partner to the rest of the company.

Before Diageo, Abanti served as a member of the Tata Administrative Service (TAS) cadre since 1992 in various General Management and Marketing roles, across Tata Global Beverages (India & UK), the Taj Group of Hotels (India & the US), Tata Housing and Tata Finance.