Brands
Haleon names Kedar Lele president for India Subcontinent
MUMBAI: Haleon has handed the reins of its India Subcontinent business to Kedar Lele, appointing him president with effect from January 2026. The move signals a sharpened focus on growth, leadership depth and closer alignment with the company’s global ambitions.
Lele will also join the Haleon executive team, bringing India firmly into the heart of the company’s “Win as One” strategy. He succeeds Navneet Saluja, who retired in October 2025 after steering the business through a period of consolidation and transition.
With more than 25 years of experience spanning FMCG, advertising, digital innovation and automotive sectors, Lele arrives with a résumé that blends scale with strategy. He joins Haleon from Castrol India Ltd, where he served as managing director. Prior to that, he spent two decades at Hindustan Unilever Ltd, holding several senior leadership roles, including executive director for sales and customer development in South Asia and chairman and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh.
An alumnus of the Indian School of Business, where he earned an MBA in strategic marketing and operations, Lele also holds a postgraduate diploma in marketing communications from Mica. Beyond corporate leadership, he serves on the board of TVS Automobile Solutions and has previously been vice president of the Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bangladesh.
As president for the India Subcontinent, Lele will play a central role in driving Haleon’s ambition to reach one billion more consumers globally by 2030. He will also advance the company’s purpose of delivering better everyday health with humanity, with India positioned as a key growth engine in that journey.
Haleon India, formerly GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, operates across oral care, digestive health, pain management, respiratory care and vitamin and mineral supplements. Its portfolio includes household names such as Sensodyne, Eno, Crocin, Iodex, Otrivin, Centrum, Ostocalcium, Parodontax and Polident.
With Lele at the helm, Haleon appears set to blend consumer insight with execution muscle, aiming to make everyday health a little more accessible, and a lot more human.
Brands
Raj Cooling Systems launches Agreyas appliances brand
Emraan Hashmi named brand ambassador for consumer appliance push.
MUMBAI: A company known for cooling solutions is now heating up its ambitions in the home appliances market. Raj Cooling Systems Pvt. Ltd. has launched a new consumer appliances brand, Agreyas, marking its entry into India’s rapidly expanding home appliances sector valued at more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The move represents a strategic diversification for the company, which has traditionally focused on cooling solutions for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Through Agreyas, the firm plans to tap into growing consumer demand for energy efficient and technology driven household appliances.
To build brand visibility, Agreyas has appointed Emraan Hashmi as its brand ambassador. The campaign has been developed under the banner of Zoommantra Productions, with actor and filmmaker Rohit Roy contributing to the creative direction.
The brand’s initial portfolio will include mid premium air conditioners, washing machines, geysers and other white goods designed to cater to modern Indian households seeking efficient and reliable appliances.
Raj Cooling Systems, founder and chairman Kalpesh Ramoliya said the launch aligns with the company’s broader expansion plans.
“The launch of Agreyas is in line with our vision to build a strong presence in India’s consumer electronics and home appliances market. The brand has been developed as a standalone identity to meet the evolving needs of Indian consumers,” he said.
Hashmi said the collaboration comes at a time when Indian buyers are increasingly looking for innovative and functional home solutions.
“I’m looking forward to working with Agreyas at a time when consumers are seeking more innovative and efficient home products. The brand reflects changing consumer behaviour around functionality, innovation and ease of use,” he said.
Raj Cooling Systems plans to invest around 10 million dollars in developing the brand, with an additional 5 million dollars earmarked over the next three to five years for product development and distribution expansion.
Agreyas will follow a multi channel distribution approach, selling through online platforms, retail outlets and dealer networks aimed at both urban and semi urban markets across India.
With the launch, the company is positioning Agreyas as a standalone consumer facing brand while continuing to leverage its existing manufacturing, engineering and research capabilities built through its core cooling solutions business.
