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Elitecon International appoints former IRS veteran Susanta Kumar Panda as independent director
NEW DELHI: Elitecon International is tightening its governance screws. The BSE-listed FMCG group has appointed Susanta Kumar Panda, a retired Indian Revenue Service officer, as an independent director on its board, signalling a sharper focus on compliance, oversight and boardroom rigour as the company expands at home and abroad.
The move brings nearly four decades of tax and regulatory firepower into the boardroom. Panda previously served as a member of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and as special secretary to the Government of India. His career spans senior roles across the Enforcement Directorate and the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, giving him deep grounding in indirect taxation, enforcement and compliance frameworks.
Elitecon is betting that such experience will bolster board processes, audit oversight and regulatory compliance — areas under growing investor scrutiny for listed consumer companies with cross-border ambitions.
Vipin Sharma, managing director of Elitecon International, said, “We are pleased to welcome Susanta Kumar Panda to our board as an independent director. His deep understanding of fiscal governance, regulatory compliance and public administration will add significant value to Elitecon’s governance framework and support our long-term growth objectives.”
The appointment adds heft to the company’s push for stronger board independence and governance depth. For a firm operating in a tightly regulated FMCG and tobacco landscape, regulatory literacy is not a luxury but a shield.
Founded in 1987 as Kashiram Jain & Company, Elitecon International is listed on the BSE and runs a diversified FMCG and tobacco portfolio. With more than three decades in manufacturing and trading, it operates across domestic and international markets, backed by scalable production.
As Indian consumer companies grow bigger and more global, the boardroom is becoming as strategic as the marketplace. Elitecon’s latest hire suggests it wants fewer surprises, tighter controls and a steadier hand on the regulatory tiller — because in today’s markets, governance can be as valuable as growth.
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YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
