Mahindra Appointments Abanti Sankaranarayanan as Chief Group Public Affairs Officer

Mahindra Group has announced the appointment of Abanti Sankaranarayanan as Chief Group Public Affairs Officer effective July 1, 2022.

In this role, Abanti will lead Group Public Affairs (India & international), Group Sustainability and the Group Risk & Economist functions. Abanti will be a part of the Group Executive Board reporting to Dr. Anish Shah, Managing Director and CEO, Mahindra Group.

Prior to joining the Mahindra Group, Abanti was Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer & Member – Executive Committee at Diageo India where her responsibilities included Public Policy, Regulatory and Trade, Market Access, Corporate Communication, Corporate Social Impact, Strategy and Ventures.

Abanti joined Diageo India as Marketing and Innovation leader in 2010 and was subsequently promoted to Managing Director, Diageo India Pvt Ltd, leading Diageo’s business mandate for international spirits in India. She assumed the role of Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Director for the region in 2015, setting up these new functions as core and strategic to the business and a strong and integrated business partner to the rest of the company.

Abanti has been recognized by Business Today (Most Powerful Women in Business and Economy - 2019, 2020), Fortune India (The Most Powerful Women in Business - 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016), IMPACT (50 Most Influential Women in Media, Marketing and Advertising - 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017), India Today (India’s 25 Most Influential Women, 2013) and Fast Company, New York (100 Most Creative People in Business, 2012).