Mumbai: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has announced that Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) chairman and MD Sanjiv Mehta will succeed veteran media executive Uday Shankar as president of the association. The appointment will be effective on 18 December.
 
Mehta is presently officiating as FICCI senior VP. He will be holding the office as president for the year 2021-22.
 
“During his eight years at the helm, HUL's market capitalisation has increased by over $55 billion making it one of the most valuable companies in the country. In this period, HUL has won several awards and recognitions including the prestigious Economic Times 'Company of the Year' and 'Corporate Citizen of the Year' awards, Business Standard's 'Company of the year' award and the 'Best Governed Company' award by the Asian Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability,” said the industry body in a press statement.

Besides leading HUL, Mehta is also a director on the board of the Indian School of Business, a member of the Breach Candy Hospital Trust, and the South Asia Advisory Board of Harvard Business School. He chairs Xynteo's Vikaasa, a coalition of top Indian and MNC companies.

Last year, Uday Shankar took over the top position in the industry body from Sangita Reddy who is Apollo Hospitals Group's joint MD. At the time of his appointment, Shankar was The Walt Disney Company's APAC president of operations and Star & Disney India chairman. He stepped down from his position at Walt Disney before holding office at FICCI.