Board reshuffle also sees Shantanu Maharaj Khosla join as Independent Director
Akzo Nobel India Limited has announced a key leadership transition with the appointment of Parth Jindal as Chairman, effective January 9, 2026, subject to shareholder approval. The company has also redesignated Rajiv Rajgopal as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Joint Managing Director (Joint MD).
In addition, Shantanu Maharaj Khosla has been appointed as an Independent Director, with effect from the same date.
Parth Jindal currently serves as Managing Director of JSW Cement and JSW Paints and sits on the boards of several JSW Group companies. His earlier professional experience includes stints at JFE Steel and JSW Steel Ltd. With more than 14 years of experience spanning management and finance, Jindal has also played a significant role in sports development as the Founder of JSW Sports Pvt. Ltd. He is the Chairman and Co-owner of the Delhi Capitals IPL franchise and the founder of the Inspire Institute of Sport. Additionally, he serves as a Director at JSW Ventures and JSW USA. Under his leadership, JSW Sports received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar in 2018. Jindal was honoured with the GenNext Entrepreneur Award at the Forbes India Leadership Awards 2024 and featured in the Economic Times 40 Under Forty list. Academically, he holds a BA from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard University.
Rajiv Rajgopal brings over 31 years of cross-sector experience, having worked in FMCG, lubricants, and telecom. He joined AkzoNobel in 2013 as Head of Sales and Marketing for Decorative Paints and was promoted to Country General Manager for India in 2014. In 2017, he took on the role of Regional Director for Performance Coatings in the Middle East and Africa. Prior to AkzoNobel, Rajgopal served as CEO – Broadband and Data at Bharti Airtel and held leadership roles at Hindustan Unilever and BP Castrol. He is a chemical engineer from the University of Mumbai and holds an MMS from SPJIMR.
Shantanu Maharaj Khosla currently sits on several company boards and is an Operating Partner at Advent. With nearly 43 years of professional experience, he has held senior leadership roles across the consumer goods sector. He began his career with Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1983 as a management trainee and spent 32 years with the company, working across India, the UK, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore. Khosla served as Managing Director of P&G India from 2002 to 2015 and later became the first Managing Director of Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals in 2015. He holds a BTech from IIT Bombay and an MBA from IIM Calcutta.
