MAM
REA India brings Amit Chand on board as group CFO to keep the numbers dancing
MUMBAI: There’s a new finance boss in town, and he’s not just balancing books—he’s scaling peaks. REA India, the muscle behind Housing.com and PropTiger.com, has brought in Amit Chand as its new chief financial officer, and by the looks of it, things are about to get interesting on the money front. The announcement came on 24 March 2025, with Chand set to steer not only finance but also legal, compliance, procurement, and risk assurance at the Gurgaon HQ. No pressure, right?
Chand is no stranger to complex ledgers and high-stakes boardrooms. With over 20 years under his financial belt, he’s worn multiple hats—from fundraising wizard to M&A maestro. Most recently, he served as CFO at TCNS Clothing, where he didn’t just crunch numbers, he drove revenue growth, boosted EBITDA, and played a central role in the company’s blockbuster acquisition by Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd. — one of the biggest deals in the fashion biz.
“We are excited to welcome Amit to the REA India leadership team. His proven financial acumen and track record of scaling businesses will be valuable as we continue to build on our strong momentum and create greater value for customers and stakeholders alike,” said Housing.com & PropTiger.com group CEO Dhruv Agarwala.
Chand, who now carries the group CFO title, returned the sentiment with gusto, “I’m thrilled to join REA India at such a dynamic time for the digital real estate sector. Housing.com and PropTiger.com are reshaping how Indians engage with property, and I look forward to driving financial excellence, scaling operations, and helping unlock the next wave of growth.”
Before playing fashion finance fixer at TCNS, Chand was the CFO of a tech-savvy startup backed by Elevation Capital. There, he manned the money ship, leading fundraising, investor relations, M&A action, and monetisation strategy. With toes dipped in both consumer and tech pools, he seems tailor-made to help REA India blaze ahead in the digital real estate domain.
From bricks and clicks to margins and missions, Chand is now the man keeping REA India’s financial engine purring.
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.
