Mars Petcare India ropes in Salil Murthy as Managing Director

Salil joins Mars Petcare from General Mills, where he was the Managing Director for India and South East Asia.

Mars Petcare India has appointed Salil Murthy as managing director, India. He will be joining us in place of Ganesh Ramani who is moving as president, Mars Petcare China. Salil joins Mars Petcare from General Mills, where he was the managing director for India and South East Asia. Salil has 20 years of FMCG experience across General Management, Marketing and Sales with proven ability to lead businesses and organizations to growth across diverse geographies and categories. He has extensive experience across Asia-Pacific in both regional/global and country roles spanning India, China, South East Asia, Australia/New Zealand and South Africa in categories such as Consumer Health/OTC, Beauty Care and Foods categories.

Speaking on Salil’s appointment, PVV. Srinivasa Rao, regional president Petcare Asia & Asia Pacific, said “We welcome Salil as Managing Director, Mars Petcare India. In this role, Salil will be leading one of our fastest growing Pet Nutrition businesses globally. Given India’s potential, he will work towards identifying future opportunities for growth and value creation.

As managing director for India and South East Asia for General Mills, one of the world’s largest food companies, Salil led portfolio and route-to-market reinvention that resulted in record business growth. Prior to this role, Salil was Country Head of General Mills India where he led the turnaround of the business behind reshaping the India strategy, expanding into new categories via building supply partnerships with external contract manufacturers, delivering consumer- delighting innovation, marketing activation and building a strong talent pipeline. In this role, General Mills has been recognized as one of India’s best places to work by the ‘Great Places to Work’ survey done across industries. Salil is a passionate advocate for Inclusion and Diversity and General Mills’ efforts were recognized with a ‘Best place to work for women’ award in 2021.

Before joining General Mills, Salil worked with Procter and Gamble, based in Singapore, for 13 years in a number of regional marketing roles across brands such as Vicks, Olay, Metamucil and Safeguard. In his last role with P&G he was Regional Marketing Director for Personal Healthcare across Asia-Pacific and Africa.

He was recognized as one of Fortune India’s ‘Top 40 under 40’ business leaders in 2018 as well as India's 'Top 40 business leaders under 40' by the Economic Times in 2017.

On joining Mars Petcare as managing director, Salil said, “I’m excited about the opportunity to be a part of a purpose driven organization like Mars that is also the market leader in the pet food category. The Petcare category is one of the fastest growing FMCG categories in India and every day, more people are experiencing the joys of pet parenting. I look forward to helping drive category growth, building a world class talent pool, and bringing our Purpose of ‘Building a better world for pets’ to life in this part of the world.

Speaking about Salil taking over the Company’s reins from him, Ganesh Ramani, President, Mars Petcare China Said, “Salil has an exciting path to pave for the organization in the pet food category. It’s a dynamic market, with its set of opportunities and challenges; and we are confident that he has the right experience to steer the organization and its talent towards a greater path of success. I wish him the very best for the new assignment.”