Rakshit Hargave To Lead Britannia As CEO After Leaving Birla Opus Paints

Rakshit Hargave will be joining Britannia Industries Ltd. after leaving Birla Opus Paints, an arm of Grasim Industries Ltd., according to an exchange filing from the company on Wednesday.

Hargave will join as chief executive officer for a period of five years, according to the filing. His appointment will be effective from the date of joining on Dec. 15, 2025.

He is set to report to Managing Director and Chairman Varun Berry, executives were cited as saying.

Berry assumed the role of interim CEO after Rajneet Singh Kohli left the company in March 2025.

Grasim Industries announced Hargave's resignation on Wednesday citing the decision to "pursue opportunities outside the company" as the reason. He was to leave the organisation from the close of business hours on Wednesday.

Managing Director Himanshu Kapania will take over as CEO during the interim period while the board of directors finalise Hargave's successor.

Rakshit Hargave joined Birla Opus in November 2021 and was credited with having a significant role in the start-up stage of the Decorative Paints for Birla Opus and the initial scaling up of the business.

"He has helped build a high-performing team and in this four year phase, established six integrated manufacturing facilities, scaled distribution and supply chain networks nationwide," the company said in an exchange filing.

He also headed operations of the German Skincare Company Beiersdorf (makers of NIVEA) in ASEAN and ANZ regions.

Prior to that, he led Africa operations and was also the MD of Nivea India.

Before joining Beiersdorf, he worked with Hindustan Unilever as Sales and Marketing Director, Kimberly Clark Lever and Chief Operating Officer at Lakme Lever.

He also worked with Jubilant Foodworks where he was credited with successfully launching the iconic Domino’s Pizza 30 minutes guarantee delivery model.

He had begun his career with Tata Motors after completing his engineering and joined Nestle India right after.

Hargave has a Master of Business Administration degree from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi and also holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi. He further received the Distinguished Young Alumni Award from Indian Institute of Technology Varanasi.