Executive Team

Go beyond the brands and discover the people that drive our success.

Issam Bachaalani

Managing Director

Mr. Issam Bachaalani has been the Managing Director at Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited since October 1, 2014. He joined Colgate-Palmolive in 1991 as part of the Global Marketing Development Program and later moved to the US Household Surface Care in New York. He has since, held a series of significant positions in various divisions and subsidiaries with Colgate-Palmolive globally. In 1996, Mr. Bachaalani joined the Central Europe/Russia Division as Marketing Manager.

In 1999, he was promoted to Associate Director, Household Surface Care for Colgate - Palmolive Mexico, and then moved as Marketing Director, Colgate-Palmolive Dominican Republic. In 2002, Mr. Bachaalani was promoted to Marketing Director of Colgate-Palmolive, South Africa. In 2006, he was promoted as General Manager, Colgate-Palmolive Hong Kong, where he and his team played a significant role in strengthening Colgate toothpaste market shares. In 2009, he was promoted to General Manager for Colgate-Palmolive, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. In 2012, he was Vice President and General Manager of the Global Toothbrush Division, where he and his team drove the business to record high global market shares expanding Manual Toothbrush Leadership with record sales, profits and unprecedented innovation stream of successful new products.

M.S. Jacob

Finance Director

Mr. M.S. Jacob joined Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited in 1995 in the Continuous Improvement Group. Over the course of 21 years, Jacob has served through leadership roles in Finance at Colgate-Palmolive Company’s subsidiaries in India, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia as well as at the Asia Pacific Division Head Quarters in Hong Kong. Most recently, Jacob was Finance Director of Colgate-Palmolive Malaysia Group where he led several key initiatives including the local execution of the Global Growth Efficiency Program and successful transition of the Goods & Services Tax.

As Finance Director of Colgate-Palmolive India, Jacob will provide overall financial leadership including Investor Relations. Jacob holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mumbai University and is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Surender Sharma

Director, Legal

Mr. Surender Sharma joined Colgate-Palmolive( India) Ltd., in 2017 as Associate Director, Legal where he provided legal support to the Marketing, Customer Development and Supply Chain functions, In this role, Surender supported the launch of several new products and closely partnered with the commercial organization to proactively address several new regulatory requirements. He also led successful anti-counterfeit activities, which resulted in the seizure of a significant number of counterfeit toothpaste tubes and toothbrushes.

Previously, Surender was working with Marico Limited as Head of Legal and Company Secretary. Prior to Marico Limited, he has worked with reputed organizations such as Heinz, Indian Hotels Company and Reckitt Benckiser and Maruti Suzuki where he spent close to 20 years as in-house counsel and handled litigation management, contract management, corporate governance and legal compliance.

As Legal Director, Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd., Surender will lead the legal & secretarial function to ensure compliance, and provide legal advice to the Leadership Team of Colgate-Palmolive India on corporate affairs. Surender holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Delhi and is a fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).

Arvind Chintamani

Marketing Director

Mr. Arvind Chintamani joined Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited in 2000. He assumed increasing responsibilities in both Customer Development and Marketing across various geographies.

He was appointed Marketing Director of Colgate-Palmolive, Malaysia Hub in 2014 before his current role as Worldwide Director – Toothpaste at Colgate-Palmolive's Corporate Office in New York. Arvind has an all-around experience in sales, marketing, and product innovation across Oral Care, Personal Care and Home Care. From April 1, 2018, he will lead the Marketing Function at Colgate-Palmolive India.

M Chandrasekar

Executive Vice President, Customer Development

Mr. M Chandrasekar joined the company in 1989 in Customer Development. Since 2006, he progressed in positions of increasing responsibilities across the Customer Development organization in India. He has over 20 years of rich & varied experience within the Customer Development. He brings with him a wealth of experience from various assignments in Colgate-Palmolive. Since 2006, M Chandrasekar has been Customer Development Team Leader at Chennai. During his tenure, he delivered strong business growth across the geography.

He consistently delivered sales through strong commercial discipline and by focusing on people development and enhancing team capabilities. Most recently, Chandrasekar led the Colgate-Palmolive India rural task force that has provided valuable insights to drive growth and distribution in the rural markets.

Shashank Potnis

Director, Global Technology Centre

Dr. Shashank Potnis joined the company in 2004 and progressed in positions of increasing responsibilities across the Research and Development Organization in India. He currently leads the India Global Technology Centre (IGTC) which supports Colgate India, Greater Asia, Africa Middle East and Eurasia Divisions to meet their research and development needs. Within the Research & Development Industry, Dr. Shashank Potnis has over 20 years of rich and varied experience, having worked with multinationals such as BASF and ICI India Ltd., in areas such as pharmaceuticals, surfactants and polymers.

Shashank holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from India. He will focus on driving business growth with new product innovations and implementation of global bundles, support manufacturing & supply chain to ensure speed to market and will continue analytical, microbiology and clinical programs to meet global needs of the Company. In addition, he will drive external collaborative research programs for the Company, in partnership with the Global Technology Centre in USA.

Adolfo Lara

Director, Manufacturing and Supply Chain

Mr. Adolfo Lara joined Colgate, Mexico in 1994 as Team Leader for the Integrated Liquids Facility Project. Over the years, he has held positions at Colgate New York, Northern & Latin America and at Mission Hills Facility, Mexico. Most recently, Adolfo was the Plant Director at the Dallas Plant where he developed strategies to ensure quality of products, efficient resource utilization, and continuous improvement in anticipation of customer and consumer needs. He also provided leadership in the successful ramp down of the Dallas plant, supporting the transition of production to the Tennessee plant.

In his role as Director of Manufacturing – India Oral Care Supply Chain, Adolfo will be responsible for the overall management of the Colgate Plants at Baddi, Goa and Sanand. He will focus on optimizing all manufacturing operations to deliver superior customer service, product quality, and Environment Affairs, Occupational Health and Safety (EOHS) performance while continuing to reduce the total delivered product cost. Adolfo will also ensure alignment with the local business teams as part of the Indian Management team. Adolfo holds a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Michoacana in Morelia, Mexico and completed International Business from the Alliant International University in Mexico City.

M K Ajay

Executive Vice President, Human Resources

Mr. M K Ajay joined Colgate-Palmolive, India in 2002 in Human Resources. Since then, he progressed in positions of increasing responsibilities across the Human Resources function. Ajay was Director - Human Resources for Colgate Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei from 2006 before taking up the position in 2012 as HR Director – Global IT and Colgate Business Services at Colgate-Palmolive, New York.

In his last assignment, Ajay made significant contributions in leading the organizational aspects of the expansion and transformation of the Business Services function located at multiple offices in the US, Mexico, Poland, Ireland and India. He has diverse experience in all aspects of HR and change management in multiple global locations.
Prior to joining Colgate, Ajay worked in Human Resources for Asian Paints. Ajay is an MBA from XLRI School of Management, Jamshedpur.

Maneesh Kumar

Director, Manufacturing - Toothbrush Category Supply Chain

Mr. Maneesh Kumar joined Colgate-Palmolive India in 1993 and progressed through positions of increasing responsibility in Manufacturing, Finished Goods Sourcing and Customer Service & Logistics. Over the years, he held a series of significant positions in the Company's plants at Mumbai and Goa when he also assumed responsibility for Colgate-Palmolive India Logistics and involved major changes in key warehouse locations to drive synergy and reduction in cost. In 2013, he moved to Piscataway, USA as Regional Associate Director, CMS Engineering (North America and Europe) where he led North America / Europe Oral Care capital budget management program, new building design & construction and manufacturing synergy.

In 2015, he moved to India to lead Regional CMS Engineering - Asia Supply Chain where he was instrumental in driving capital management program, design, managed manufacturing growth projects at Asian sites and developing site capital management teams. He also led the Myanmar plant manufacturing upgrade project during this assignment. Most recently Maneesh was the Director Manufacturing of Sri City Toothbrush Plant since January 2017. In his new role, Maneesh will be responsible for the overall management of Manufacturing and Supply Chain providing overall leadership to Toothbrush Category, including driving manufacturing efficiencies, Customer Service, EOHS (Environmental & Occupational, Health & Safety), Quality, Funding the Growth, Plant Performance, Product Sourcing, and Capacity Management.

V Ganesh

Vice President, Customer Service & Logistics

Mr. V Ganesh joined Colgate-Palmolive in February 1989 and was appointed Vice-President, Customer Service & Logistics in July 2014. Over his 25 years with the Company, Ganesh has taken up positions of increasing responsibilities across a cross-functional platform encompassing Customer Development, Customer Service & Logistics, & Information Technology.

Most recently, Ganesh was the Customer Development Team Leader for West Branch with added responsibilities of managing the Company's sales & marketing operations in Bangladesh, SriLanka & Nepal. Ganesh's cross functional experience, analytics based commercial knowledge & strong working relationships with internal teams & external customers make him well qualified to deliver in this role.

Last updated: June 2018.