Grasim Industries announced a leadership change on Tuesday. Even as HK Agarwal has transitioned to the role of Group Advisor, ABMCPL, Vadiraj Kulkarni has taken over as the Business Head of the Cellulosic Fibres business at Grasim Industries, effective April 1, 2025.
A seasoned business leader with 28+ years of experience in P&L management, operations, and manufacturing at ITC Limited, Vadiraj Kulkarni joined the Aditya Birla Group on October 1, 2024 as Business Head (designate) under HK Agarwal in a planned and phased leadership transition.
Prior to this, he was CEO at ITC Limited’s Paperboards and Specialty Papers, a Rs 8,000 crore business with four plants across India.
Under his leadership, ITC’s Paperboards and Specialty Papers division doubled its revenue and significantly increased its margins, making it the largest pulp and paperboard company in India. Kulkarni is a Chemical Engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, class of 1996.
As HK Agarwal transitions to an advisory role, Grasim Industries has also appointed Himanshu Kapania as Managing Director and Key Managerial Personnel of the company for a period of 3 years and 1 month with effect from 1st April 2025 to 30th April 2028. With a career spanning 39 years, Kapania brings deep expertise in leading organisations, and brings to the table deep commercial acumen as well as strong understanding of technology, operations and sales & marketing.
Before this, Kapania was Business Director – Birla Opus Paints and has been with the Group for over 24 years.
