Colgate-Palmolive (India), the listed Indian arm of the American consumer products group, has named Manish Anandani as its managing director and chief executive officer, bringing a long serving company veteran back to lead one of the country’s largest oral and personal care businesses. The board approved the appointment on 21 August 2026, and Anandani takes charge at the end of September 2026 for a term of five years.
He succeeds Prabha Narasimhan, who has run the Indian business for the past four years and now moves to a wider regional post as executive vice president for marketing in the Asia Pacific division of the parent company. The company presented the change as an orderly transition, with Narasimhan stepping up to the regional marketing role as Anandani returns to the organisation he knows well. Before joining Colgate, Narasimhan held senior positions at Hindustan Unilever, including executive director for home care.
Anandani is no stranger to the company. He spent 13 years at Colgate-Palmolive between 2005 and 2018, holding leadership assignments across India, Indochina and the group’s corporate organisation, before leaving to broaden his experience elsewhere in fast moving consumer goods and consumer health. Most recently he was managing director for India and South Asia at Kenvue, the consumer health business that was separated from Johnson & Johnson. He brings close to thirty years of experience across sales, marketing and general management.
Colgate-Palmolive (India) is among the most widely distributed consumer names in the country, with a range that spans toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash and a growing personal care line. The business has spent recent years defending its long standing leadership in oral care against sharper competition from domestic challengers and premium newcomers, while pushing further into science backed personal care. Anandani inherits a company with deep rural and urban reach that must keep pace with shifting consumer preferences and faster digital first rivals.
His return lands as several multinational consumer groups reassess how their Indian units are led, favouring executives who pair local market knowledge with international exposure. Anandani’s mix of long Colgate experience and more recent leadership at a spun off consumer health major fits that pattern, and the five year mandate points to continuity of strategy rather than a sharp change of direction. Narasimhan’s move to the Asia Pacific marketing role keeps her within the group, underlining that the reshuffle is promotion driven rather than a departure.
