Brands
Ashish Chopade takes charge of strategic sourcing at Adani Defence
AHMEDABAD: Adani Defence and Aerospace has added fresh firepower to its leadership ranks with the appointment of Ashish Chopade as head of strategic sourcing. In his new role, Chopade will oversee strategic sourcing initiatives, expand supplier discovery across diverse capabilities, and streamline the entire procure-to-pay process.
The mandate is clear and ambitious. Chopade is expected to strengthen the supplier ecosystem, unlock cost efficiencies and support Ebitda improvement, all while helping scale one of the Adani Group’s most strategically significant businesses.
Chopade joins Adani Defence after a successful stint at the Motherson Group, where he served as general manager and led sourcing solutions and multi-capability supplier discovery. Known for blending operational rigour with strategic thinking, he played a key role in driving value across complex supply chains.
Before that, he spent nearly two decades at Hero MotoCorp, rising through the ranks from associate manager to deputy general manager. His journey there covered everything from margin transformation programmes and proprietary parts buying to leading strategic sourcing and indirect purchase categories.
From junior engineer beginnings in Nagpur to shaping sourcing strategies for some of India’s largest manufacturing organisations, Chopade’s career has been built piece by piece, much like the supply chains he now optimises.
At Adani Defence and Aerospace, his task will be to ensure that the right partners, at the right cost, arrive at the right time, a behind-the-scenes role that quietly powers growth, resilience and long-term competitiveness.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
