| | NOVEMBER 20248Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has confirmed the retirement of Dev Bajpai, who serves as the Executive Director of Legal & Corporate Affairs and Company Secretary, three years in advance on December 31, 2024. Over his more than a decade-long tenure in the organization, Bajpai has played an important role in defining the legal and corporate strategy of the company.Bajpai joined HUL in 2010. Ever since, he has been part of the HUL Management Committee and also serves on the Board of Directors besides being part of the South Asia Leadership team. He has had a wide-ranging career with significant postings at Maruti Udyog, Indian Hotels Company Limited and Marico, so that he holds an authoritative position as legal expert in Unilever as well as corporate India.Under Bajpai's stewardship, HUL handled difficult legal situations pretty effectively and played a critical role in assisting the successful integration of GSK Consumer Healthcare into HUL. One of the largest acquisition deals in the FMCG sector in India, HUL Chairman Nitin Paranjpe complimented Bajpai for his dedication to good corporate governance and strategic guiding in daunting legal situations.Bajpai's retirement signals the end of an influential tenure; and his decision to become a social worker reflects his desire to impact a larger section of society. HUL hasn't announced who his successor would be. Preeti Bajaj, CEO and Managing Director of Luminous Power Technologies, has said that it requires collective action from the government, industry, and citizens to take the economic contribution of women in the economy up to 50%. According to her, such collective efforts are necessary as India can do nothing less than become the third largest economy in the world.India has taken giant strides, but unless we have 50 percent of women in the workforce, it will not be a robust economy as per Prime Minister Modi's dream," said Bajaj to IANS at the NDTV World Summit. "She is optimistic about the initiatives now being undertaken by the government, though seems to insist on citizens' commitment year after year".Bajaj said, "The role of government is important but subsidiary because industries and academia have to look inward and participate actively for this purpose. The first step toward realizing any ambition is determination. This determination need not be a mere wish but it should be guiding principle for success, she underlined".Speaking about the collaboration required, she said that "to fulfill this vision, industrialists, citizens, and educational institutions need to come together to form an enlightened India".She also explained three-pronged strategy drivers of India's growth and stated, "firstly, our infrastructure development led by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari needs to keep moving on and expand". Apart from the infrastructure development, she stated that the second pillar needed is better education so that bright talent stays within the country.The Make in India program has been an integral part of the initiative, "We are committed to creating an ecosystem that is supportive of industries. Luminous is innovating through work on the development of solar panels and solar inverters for Indian homes", she said."We can definitely fulfill the dream of developed India by sustaining impetus for infrastructure, education, and manufacturing", Bajaj concluded. IN FOCUSIN FOCUSHUL LEGAL HEAD DEV BAJPAI SET TO RETIRE BY YEAR-ENDLUMINOUS CEO SUPPORTS WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
< Page 7 | Page 9 >