EPL LIMITED - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- President - Creativity & Innovation
Mr. Hariharan Nair holds a master's degree in polymer engineering from IIT - Delhi. He started his career with Reliance Industries Limited in 1998 and has also worked for G E Plastics and E. I. DuPont India Pvt. Ltd before joining EPL in 2017. He has over 20 years of experience in the Indian polymer Industry.
In his career, he has been exposed to leadership roles in technology, business development and technical sales. As Vice President - Creativity & Innovation, Mr. Nair's job entails conceptualizing, designing and developing new products, processes and applications. Besides interacting with customers and vendors for new product development, he also engages himself in facilitating fundamental research projects on sustainability.
At EPL, you can be rest assured that it's ZERO DEFECT Tube delivered ON TIME - EVERY TIME. This is only possible because we have best in class ingredients to manufacture Laminated & Plastic tubes - be it Manpower, Machinery OR Process.
Job Titles:
- CIO
- Global Chief Information Officer
Mr Kamlesh Jain, our Global Chief Information Officer (CIO), is a seasoned techno-commercial professional who took on the role in 2022.
As the CIO, he is focused on setting up the EPM (Enterprise Performance Management) system and building our robust Planning cum Transaction system that forms a critical backbone of the Organization.
His 24 years of work experience cuts across various Industries (Retail / Ports / BPO & KPO / Pharmaceutical / Energy etc.) where he has worked in functional and technical roles, specialising in areas like Development of IT Systems for Process Digitization, Internet of Things (IoT), BPM, DMS, Planning, and Analytics.
He is a Chartered Accountant who worked with leading companies like Prism Informatics, AEGIS - Essar Group, Enercon, Future Group, and Adani Ports, before joining EPL in 2014. He was heading the FInancial systems and process development and GLobal Applications and SAP, before taking on the role of the CIO.
Job Titles:
- President - Europe Region
Mr. Alan Conner joined EPL in 2011. He is qualified with an HND in Electrical & Electronic Engineering and has also completed his post-graduation in management from the University of Warwick. Over a span of 30 years Mr. Conner has held senior positions with Schlumberger and Tomkins PLC before moving to the packaging industry to take on a senior leadership role with BPI. Mr. Conner has also held senior leadership roles with DS Smith Plastics where he was Managing Director of Europe-Worldwide Dispensers.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Senior Managing Director and Head of Blackstone Private Equity
Mr. Amit Dixit is a Senior Managing Director and Head of Blackstone Private Equity in India, based in Mumbai. Since joining Blackstone in 2007, Mr. Dixit has been involved with various investments and investment opportunities in India and South Asia.
Apart from EPL Limited (formerly known as Essel Propack Limited), he currently serves as a Director on the Boards of Mphasis, TaskUs, Comstar Automotive Tech, Sona BLW Precision Forgings, IBS Software, Jagran Prakashan, Mid-Day Infomedia and HPPPL. Mr. Dixit was previously Director on the Board of Intelenet Global Services, Trans Maldivian Airways, Igarashi Motors India, S.H. Kelkar and Emcure Pharmaceuticals.
Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Dixit was a Principal at Warburg Pincus. He received an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MS in Engineering from Stanford University, and a B.Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai where he was awarded the Director's Silver Medal for graduating at the top of his program.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- & CEO
Mr. Anand Kripalu joined the EPL Board in August 2021. He is the Managing Director and CEO of the Company. He has more than 30 years of industry experience in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. Prior to joining EPL, Anand spent seven years as the MD & CEO of Diageo India, leading beverage alcohol company. He was also a member of Diageo's Global Executive Committee. Prior to joining Diageo, Anand spent almost eight years with Mondelez International (earlier, Cadbury), where he served as the President of India and South East Asia. Prior to Mondelez, he spent 22 years at Unilever in various general management and sales and marketing roles. He left Unilever as the MD of East Africa, where he turned around a loss-making business to deliver double-digit growth. Mr. Anand holds an MBA from IIM, Calcutta, where he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. He received his Bachelor of Technology in Electronics from IIT, Madras, and also completed the Advanced Management Program from Wharton Business School.
Mr. Aniket Damle is an Associate in the Blackstone Private Equity Group based in Mumbai. Mr. Damle joined Blackstone in 2017. Since joining Blackstone, he has been involved in the execution of Blackstone's investments in EPL Limited (formerly known as Essel Propack Limited) and Sona BLW. Prior to joining Blackstone in 2017, he worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Mr. Damle received a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He was named an OPJEMS scholar in 2015.
Mr. Animesh Agrawal is a Senior Associate in the Blackstone Private Equity Group based in Mumbai. Mr. Agrawal worked at Blackstone from 2014 to 2016 and, following the completion of an M.B.A., rejoined Blackstone in 2018.
Since joining Blackstone in 2014, he has been involved in the execution of Blackstone's investments in EPL Limited (formerly known as Essel Propack Limited), Intelenet, IBS Software and Mphasis. Before joining Blackstone in 2014, Mr. Agrawal worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Mr. Agrawal received a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and an Arjay Miller Scholar.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Independent Director
Mr. Brar is the promoter of GVK Biosciences Private Limited, Excelra Knowledge Solutions Pvt. Ltd and Davix Management Services Private Limited. Mr. Brar started his career with Associated Cement Companies (ACC) and later joined Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, where he rose to the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director.
Apart from EPL Limited (formerly known as Essel Propack Limited), Mr. Brar currently serves as Chairman on the Board of Mphasis Limited and Director on the Board of Maruti Suzuki India Limited, Wockhardt Limited, and Mountain Trail Foods (India) Private Limited. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the USA-India Chamber of Commerce (USAIC). Mr. Brar was also the Director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during 2000-2007.
Mr. Brar has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala; and a master's degree in management from Faculty of Management Studies from the University of Delhi (gold medalist - 1974).
Mr. Deepak Goyal has been the Chief Financial Officer of company since August 2023. With a diverse experience of over 22 years, Deepak has a diverse and global experience in the industries of FMCG, Financial services and Hospitality tech.
He is qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and holds a graduate degree in Commerce from the University of Rajasthan.
Prior to his role at EPL, Deepak was the CFO for Oyo Vacation Homes based in Switzerland and has earlier worked with PepsiCo and GE Commercial Finance in various capacities.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Senior Advisor to Blackstone
Dhaval is a senior advisor to Blackstone and also consults with several Indian multinationals. Mr Dhaval was the Global Chief Procurement Officer for Unilever - a company where he has had a three-decade long career. During this time, he led the Supply Chain for Asia/Africa for Unilever and also spent 20 + years in different supply chain roles in Hindustan Unilever, culminating in his running the HUL (and South Asia) Supply Chain from 2005 - 10. Mr Dhaval is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Delhi. He is a Director on Board of various Companies.
Mr. Kelvin Wang joined EPL on April 11, 2016. He looks after overall business strategy planning for various product lines in the East Asia Pacific region (EAP), with operations in China, Philippines and Indonesia and is responsible for building a winning, market-driven organization and profitable growth in EAP. He has completed his Bachelor of Engineering from Shanghai Jiaotong University and his MBA from the University of Iowa, USA. He has held Technical Services, Sales and Marketing and General Management positions in the past with conglomerates like Guangdong Daya Bay Power Plant and Avery Dennison. Prior to joining us, Mr.Wang was working with Loparex Hong Kong Ltd., as Vice President Sales & Marketing, Asia Pacific.
Mr. M. R. Ramasamy has been the Chief Operating Officer since July 1, 2015. Prior to this, he was managing all of EPL's global divisions in the capacity of President - International Business. In earlier portfolios he has led several verticals within the firm, holding positions of Manufacturing & Technology (Global), Chief Technology Officer, Director - Corporate Affairs, and Sr. Vice President - Operations and Supply Chain. Mr. Ramasamy has been with EPL for over 30+ years. He carries an Engineering degree in Chemicals & Plastics and an executive MBA from Lansbridge University, Canada. He is also a regular faculty for manufacturing excellence and Six Sigma implementation methodologies at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. The EPL team refers to him as Ram.
Job Titles:
- President - Americas Region
- Regional Vice President for the Americas Region
Mr. Mauro Catopodis is the Regional Vice President for the Americas Region. He is responsible for leading EPL Limited (formerly known as Essel Propack Limited)'s strategic growth alongside all aspects of management and oversight of business operations in the entire region, which includes plants in the US, Mexico and Colombia. His 20+ year career has spanned key roles in Strategic Management, Sales, Marketing, as well as Mergers & Acquisitions. He has in-depth expertise across industries including Packaging, Food and Beverage.
In his prior role, Mr. Catopodis served as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Rembrandt Foods - one of the largest egg ingredient companies in North America. Previously, he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Amcor Rigid Plastics, a global leader in packaging. Additionally he spent 16 years at Cargill - the largest privately held corporation in the USA. Mauro holds an MBA from the prestigious University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Job Titles:
- Associate Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India
- Head - Legal, Company Secretary & Compliance Officer
Mr. Onkar Ghangurde, is an Associate Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and a law graduate from ILS Law College, Pune. With a rich and diverse experience of 14 years, prior to joining EPL, in Legal, Compliance, Governance and Secretarial Matters, for both Equity and High Value Debt Listed entities, Onkar joined EPL in Sep 2023. In past, he has been associated with Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail (ABFRL), Kansai Nerolac Paints and Tata International (TIL), where he has handled entire gamut of Corporate Secretarial & Legal activities including strategic matters such as Corporate Restructuring, Joint Venture, Fund Raising (both Equity and Debt) etc. In his stint just prior to EPL, he led the Global Secretarial Operations for TIL, where he was responsible for the Corporate Secretarial Operations for TIL and its Indian as well as global subsidiaries. In the year 2022, for recognising his contribution to the Global Secretarial function at TIL, he was awarded with the ‘ACES Award'. He was also recognised as a "Young Achiever", during his stint with ABFRL.
Mr. Shashank Sinha has a background in engineering and received his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. He served as MD & CEO of Strides Pharma Science Limited (Strides), an Indian pharmaceutical company, listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Under his leadership, Strides rapidly built scale and scope, growing revenues 4x in 4 years and established a multinational footprint. Immediately before Strides, he headed the global flexibles business of Huhtamaki Oyj, a leading consumer packaging company headquartered in Espoo, Finland. He led the acquisition of Positive Packaging Pvt. Ltd. and its merger with Huhtamaki PPL. Earlier, he held leadership roles with Godrej Consumer Products Ltd., Navis Capital Partners, Sara Lee Corporation and Reckitt Benckiser plc. With more than thirty years in consumer packaged goods businesses in home and personal care as well as food and beverage categories, Mr. Sinha has wide international experience having lived and worked in eight countries. He founded Wabi Sabi Advisory LLP, where he brings to bear his wide international experience and deep industry knowledge. He has served on the board of several companies in India and overseas and is currently on the board of Strides Consumer Pvt. Ltd. and Fullife Healthcare Pvt. Ltd.
Mr. Shrihari K. Rao, elevated to the position of President AMESA (Africa Middle East and South Asia) on Apr 3 2023 (the day when he completes 7 years at EPL), has been with EPL since April 2016. Previously heading the sustainability vertical at EPL and as global head printing, Shrihari spearheaded innovation-led printing solutions, which have led to a significant impact on the company's growth and the leadership in the industry. Leading the company on sustainable initiatives, he also made sure that EPL leads the pack in product, process and people sustainability.
He holds a diploma in electronics and communication engineering from Sri Venkateshwara college and a degree in Business Administration from (BVB) Bharthiya Vidya Bhavan
With over 33 years of work experience, he is well known in the printing and packaging industry. Prior to EPL, he was Sales Director, South Asia at ESKO, A global packaging preproduction solution provider from Belgium, where he was responsible for its P&L management of the entire South Asia region.
At EPL, he is known for his multitasking abilities, passion for excellence, high energy levels and his passion for photography.
Ms. Sharmila Karve was an audit partner with Price Waterhouse and has spent her career performing audits of large multinational and Indian business houses. She has served as the audit partner for some of the largest FMCG, Pharma, Telecom and Insurance Companies in India. Sharmila was the Head of Audit for the Price Waterhouse network of firms in India between 2009 to 2012 and during this time she was actively involved in negotiating the settlement with the US Regulators. She took over as the Head of Risk & Quality for the India network in 2012 and was appointed as the Head for Diversity and Inclusion for the PwC Network. In her role as the Head of Diversity & Inclusion, Sharmila was a speaker at various forums.
She holds a FCA degree from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
Job Titles:
- Global Chief Human Resources Officer
Ms. Sonal Jain joined EPL in Jun, 2023 as the Global CHRO. She has more than 19 years of diverse experience in FMCG, Health Care, Information services and EdTech sector. Prior to this role, Sonal was Head of People, Asia Pacific at Coursera. Sonal has also worked in various capacities for Johnson & Johnson, Unilever and Wipro Technologies.
A well-known name in the HR community, Sonal has been recognized as one of the "10 Best CPOs in India 2023" by TradeFlock and was honoured as a "Top 100 HR Leader for 40under40" by Jombay in 2018. Her expertise extends beyond borders, as she has held roles and engaged teams across markets such as the Americas, Japan, Europe, Middle East, South East Asia, Africa, Australia and South Asia. She is a core member of CII National Committee for Leadership and HR.
Sonal holds a graduate degree in Civil Engineering for Jamia Millia Islamia and MBA in Human Resources from University Business School, Panjab University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President - Operations - AMERICA
At EPL - its DECORATION AT ITS BEST!. We have everything to offer that today's and tomorrow's (E-commerce ready) market needs. We lead the pack in every single process/stage of Tube Manufacturing.