Brands
Lava leadership shake-up: MD Sunil Raina and CFO Rajesh Sethi set to exit
The exits come as the Indian smartphone maker seeks to capitalise on a gap in the entry-level market
NOIDA: Lava is losing its heat at the top just as its engine starts firing. In a twin-barrelled blow to India’s home-grown smartphone contender, managing director Sunil Raina and chief financial officer Rajesh Sethi are heading for the exit, catching industry observers entirely off guard.
The high-profile departures come precisely when the Noida-based handset maker is engineering a spirited market turnaround, seizing ground surrendered by Chinese rivals who have priced themselves out of the budget bracket.
Raina, a veteran who has steered the ship for 16 years, will step down by the end of December. Meanwhile, Sethi is already serving out his notice period. The double exit follows the recent departure of chief manufacturing officer Sanjeev Agarwal, who jumped ship to join memory giant Micron Technology.
The timing could hardly be more dramatic. Raina took the helm in 2023 under extraordinary circumstances, stepping up after co-founder Hari Om Rai was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money-laundering investigation. Industry murmurs suggest Rai could be reinstated as managing director once Raina departs.
For a firm currently riding high on a resurgence in cheap entry-level handsets, Lava now faces a high-stakes leadership vacuum. The company has successfully exploited rising component costs that forced Chinese competitors to abandon the sub-entry market. Yet with its top layer peeling away, the brand must plug its executive vacuum fast or risk watching its hard-won momentum melt away.
