Birla Opus CEO Hargave quits to lead Britannia

Biscuit maker Britannia Ltd has appointed Rakshit Hargave as its new chief executive officer (CEO) effective December 15, it said in a filing to the stock exchange on Wednesday.

Hargave on Wednesday resigned as CEO of rebel paint brand Birla Opus, disrupting the business long dominated by Asian Paints, Berger Paints, Kansai Nerolac and Akzo Nobel.

Hargave replaces Rajneet Kohli, who left Britannia in May after a nearly three-year stint to join Hindustan Unilever as managing director of its food business. Varun Berry, executive vice president and general manager, took over as interim CEO.

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That month, on the earnings call, Berry said Britannia would appoint a new CEO within three to four months and was actively putting a succession plan in place.

Meanwhile, the company said in an exchange filing that Birla Opus will name Hargave’s successor in due course. Himanshu Kapania, managing director of its parent company Grasim Industries, will oversee the painting business for now.

Hargave joined Grasim in November 2021 and became the first managing director of Birla Opus, which entered the decorative paint market in 2024. Under his leadership, Birla Opus achieved its first phase of expansion with six manufacturing facilities located in Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

“Rakshit played a key role in the startup phase of Birla Opus and the initial scaling of the decorative paint business,” the interim CEO said during a post-results interaction with analysts.

An IIT-BHU graduate with an MBA from FMS Delhi, Hargave previously led Nivea’s business in Asia and ANZ and held roles at Unilever, Domino’s Pizza and Nestlé. In India, Domino’s is known for introducing its “30 minutes or free” delivery promise.

Britannia announced its results for the quarter ending September 2025 on Wednesday in a separate stock exchange filing. The company’s total operating income increased by 3.7% annually ₹Net profit increased by 23% to Rs 4,840.63 crore ₹655 crore.

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Like its core consumer rivals, Britannia was expected to struggle with trade disruptions caused by weather disruptions, a slowdown in consumer demand and changes in goods and services tax rates.

Heritage of Dyes

Birla Opus has completed the first phase of its decorative paint investments with its six facilities and an annual capacity of 1.332 million liters.

During the post-results interaction with analysts, Himanshu Kapania said that with the commercialization of the last plant in West Bengal, the company has now become the second largest decorative paint company commanding 24% of the industry capacity.

Grasim committed ₹10,000 crore to the dye initiative, ₹As of September, 9,727 crore investments were made. Birla Opus at launch guided to success ₹10,000 crore turnover within three years of full-scale operations as of FY28.

According to ICICI Securities’ note dated September 28, Birla Opus ₹25,847.3 crore in the first year of FY24 and ₹Estimated to reach 31,563.2 crore in FY25 ₹38,309.5 crore in FY26.

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In the same note, analysts said key takeaways from the analyst meeting include the company’s rapid expansion of distribution in the last 16-17 months, reaching nearly 50,000 dealers in over 8,000 towns. They said the focus has now shifted to deepening penetration in existing markets and increasing counter sales, while dealer additions will continue at a slower pace.

Soumya Gupta contributed to this story