Bata gets an Indian CEO
For the first time in the 126-year-old brand’s history, an Indian will take the global reins
Bata India chief Sandeep Kataria has been elevated as the company’s global CEO, becoming the first Indian to lead the shoemaker’s worldwide operations.
An alumnus of IIT Delhi and XLRI, Kataria has nearly three decades of experience at companies like Unilever, Yum Brands and Vodafone in India and Europe.
Under his leadership since 2017, Bata India has doubled its profits, achieved double-digit revenue growth and ran campaigns to reposition itself as a contemporary brand, targeted at younger consumers.
Kataria joins an elite list of Indian-origin CEOs helming global organisations, including Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, Ajay Banga of Mastercard, Satya Nadella of Microsoft (LinkedIn’s parent) and Arvind Krishna of IBM. Founded in 1894, Bata is India’s largest footwear retailer and its brands like Hush Puppies, Marie Claire, North Star and Scholl are household names
