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Rakshit Hargave Leaves Birla Opus to Become Britannia CEO

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Business Honor - Rakshit Hargave Named New Britannia CEO

Business Honor
07 November, 2025

Britannia finalizes on CEO appointment, bringing in Rakshit Hargave to lead growth and steer consumer market swings.

Biscuit manufacturer Britannia Ltd. announced in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday that it has appointed Rakshit Hargave to serve as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective 15 December. Hargave today resigned as CEO of Birla Opus, the insurgent paints brand that disrupted the market long dominated by Asian Paints, Berger Paints, Kansai Nerolac and Akzo Nobel. Hargave will succeed Rajneet Kohli, who quit Britannia in May after nearly three years to join Hindustan Unilever as executive director of the foods business. Vice-chairman and managing director Varun Berry took over as interim CEO.

Later in May, Varun Berry told analysts on an earnings call that Britannia would appoint a new CEO in three months or so, and that it was actively putting a succession plan in place. In the meantime, Birla Opus said the company might announce Hargave’s successor in due course. Himanshu Kapania, managing director of its parent company Grasim Industries, will run the paints business for the time being. Birla Opus under Hargave’s leadership executed its first phase of expansion with six manufacturing plants in Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

"Rakshit, who became a part of Grasim in November 2021, has been a key player in the Birla Opus startup phase and the early expansion of the decorative paints division," remarked the interim CEO during a post-results meeting with analysts. In a separate exchange filing, Britannia unveiled its results for the quarter to end September 2025 on Wednesday. The company's total revenue from operations rose 3.7% year-on-year to ₹4,840.63 crore, while its net profit increased sharply, up 23% to ₹655 crore. Similar to its consumer staple peers, Britannia is seen as being susceptible to weather-induced disruptions, deceleration in consumer demand, and disruptions in trade following a change in goods and services tax rates.