Jewellery unit head Ajoy Chawla named Titan MD

BENGALURU: Ajoy Chawla will take charge as Titan's new managing director, effective Jan 1 next year. The current MD, CK Venkataraman's term, will conclude on Dec 31 this year, adhering to the Tata Group's retirement guidelines upon reaching superannuation age.

Since becoming CEO of Titan's jewellery division in 2019, Chawla has led the division to significant achievements, with sales and profits expanding by 2.5 times, while consolidating its market leadership position.

Chawla's appointment as MD awaits shareholder approval. The company will complete the formal procedures for his board induction and managing director appointment in due course. The selection of his successor for the jewellery division will be taken subsequently. Venkataraman stated, "On behalf of the entire Titan team, I welcome Ajoy to lead Titan in its next phase of innovation and growth. With his strong customer obsession, people orientation, partnering impulse and focus on creating value, Ajoy is well qualified to shepherd Titan towards even greater glory and scale."

His professional journey began with Tata Administrative Services (TAS) in 1990, followed by joining Titan's finance department in 1991. His watches division experience spans commercial, sales, retailing, supply chain, and SAP implementation roles over two decades. He managed accessories and licensed brands before heading the Titan SBU's domestic and international operations. From 2013 to 2019, he served as chief strategy officer, overseeing business incubation, fragrances expansion and the Taneira business. Titan reported a 22% increase in revenue to Rs 57,818 crore for 2024-25, while net profit decreased by 2% to Rs 4,535 crore, primarily due to reduced gold custom duty effects during the period. The company's revenue showed a 22% growth in the March quarter compared to the previous year.

Venkataraman said, "Our analog watch business continued its strong growth trajectory by product innovation led premiumisation whilst moving in sync with the rising aspirations of the Indian consumer. The eyecare business has returned to the double-digit growth trajectory in Q3 and Q4 of FY25 and is poised for even better growth in FY26. Within emerging businesses, fragrances have performed well for FY25 signifying growing acceptance of the Skinn brand. Our international business expansions are progressing well, and we are now present in 5 more cities in North America and GCC."

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