Who Is Hina Nagarajan ? The First Woman To Lead India's Largest Liquor Company

Hina Nagarajan was recently appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of India’s top liquor company United Spirits Ltd. She will formally take over her new position from July 1, 2021, and will succeed Anand Kripalu, the current CEO of the company. Kripalu will step down as MD and CEO on June 30, 2021, according to report in the Mint. By taking this role, Hina Nagarajan will become the first woman to ever lead such a large liquor company in India.

Currently, Nagarajan is the Managing Director, Africa Emerging Markets at USL’s parent company, Diageo. She is also one of the Board of Directors for the Diageo listed Companies in Ghana and the Indian Ocean.  In her 30 years of experience, Nagarajan has had many leading managerial roles at Mary Kay Cosmetics, well-established companies such as Nestle India and ICI Paints, she then went on to take international roles at Reckitt Benckiser and Diageo.

Nagarajan is an alumna from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad. Before that, she completed her bachelor’s degree in commerce along with a hotel management degree from the Indian Institute of Hotel Management, New Delhi at the same time. As a woman leader, she admits to having struggled in the all-male clubs in her early years.

Also read: Women CEOs Work Harder & Longer, Have Differential Traits: Study

In a video ">interview of 2019, Nagarajan talked about how she stopped trying to fit in those clubs after a while and started to do what she wanted to do. Her career graph is evidence that her fearless approach has only made her achieve greater things. Even though she talks about her humble beginnings in a middle-class household, she acknowledges that her parents gave her enough space to branch out by providing her with freedom and support.

Even in this day and age, it is refreshing to see women take on such unconventional roles like Nagarajan’s new stint at India’s largest liquor company. Nagarajan, like so many women of the 21^st century, is giving young women that vision.