MAM
Havas Group India appoints Anjali Gupte as CFO
Mumbai: Havas Group India has appointed Anjali Gupte as chief financial officer, further bolstering its senior leadership team. Based out of Mumbai, Gupte will report to Havas Group India CEO Rana Barua and also Asia Pacific Group CFO Brice Pinoncely.
Gupte has over two decades of experience across industries spanning advertising, financial services, manufacturing and real estate. In her previous role as CFO at Grey Group, she oversaw financial operations of the agency’s creative, digital and activation businesses in South Asia and was responsible for driving profitable growth across India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Prior to Grey, she worked at Thomson Reuters for 17 years in the financial risk division. She is also an Independent director on the Board of Astec LifeSciences Limited, part of the Godrej group, where she also had a four-year stint.
Havas Group India CEO Rana Barua said, “Havas Group India is now totally integrated and has over 1000 people working across 10 specialist agencies in 3 Villages (Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai). We also have ambitious acquisition plans and multiple ongoing conversations for both media and creative groups. I welcome Anjali as Group CFO at this crucial juncture as we stabilise operations and action our growth plans. Anjali is a highly accomplished professional with leadership and people skills that have stood her in good stead as a business partner and strategist in her previous roles.”
On her new role, Anjali Gupte said, “I am delighted to join the Havas Group, which in a very short while has built a fantastic reputation and stature in the Indian advertising market. With an extremely progressive vision of growth, strong leadership, and a wide spectrum of specialist agencies ranging from creative, media, health, data, design and entertainment all under an integrated Village model, this will truly be an exciting opportunity for me. I am looking forward to my role at Havas Group at such a challenging time and am confident that we will make a meaningful difference as we go forth.”
Brands
Ekart expands IKEA partnership with EV deliveries in Chennai
3PL to handle 600 plus products with 48 hour delivery via EV fleet.
MUMBAI: Flatpacks are going electric and your sofa might now arrive with a smaller carbon footprint. Ekart has expanded its partnership with IKEA to power last-mile deliveries in Chennai, doubling down on speed, scale and sustainability in one of India’s key urban markets. Under the collaboration, Ekart will manage end-to-end large-format deliveries for IKEA across the city using a 100 per cent dedicated electric vehicle fleet. The move makes Chennai the second major market after NCR-Delhi where Ekart handles IKEA’s last-mile logistics, signalling a broader rollout of EV-led supply chains.
The mandate is no small load. Ekart will oversee deliveries for over 600 products from IKEA’s catalogue, ranging from furniture to home décor—categories that demand specialised handling and precision logistics.
Backed by its technology-driven fulfilment network, Ekart is targeting deliveries within a 48-hour window, offering real-time tracking and end-to-end visibility from warehouse to doorstep. The focus is clear: faster turnarounds without compromising on control or customer experience.
The EV-first model also aligns with both companies’ sustainability goals, as urban logistics increasingly shifts towards zero-emission solutions. For IKEA, which continues to expand its omnichannel presence in India, reliable and eco-conscious last-mile delivery is becoming central to scale.
For Ekart, the partnership reinforces its positioning as an enterprise-grade logistics player in large-format commerce. The company already supports over 1,800 retail, D2C and enterprise brands, spanning last-mile delivery, part-truckload services and warehousing.
As India’s logistics ecosystem evolves, this collaboration highlights a growing trend: delivery is no longer just about distance, it’s about efficiency, experience and increasingly, emissions.
