Hina Nagarajan is Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Diageo India, and a member of Diageo’s Global Executive Committee. She is also a Non-Executive Director and a member of the Audit Committee on the board of BP plc.  

Hina took over the role in Diageo India in July 2021 and launched a new business strategy for long term profitable growth and value to all stakeholders. Under Hina’s leadership, the company has witnessed many “firsts”. 

• There has been significant progress in Diageo’s Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) journey. The company has received industry recognitions from Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) and Sustainalytics has rated Diageo India as a top performing ESG company in Asia Pacific in 2022, based on the progress made on carbon emission reduction, water use efficiency and waste management.  
• On the business front, Diageo India has achieved strong double digit top line growth for the last two consecutive years and witnessed accelerated performance across markets with huge momentum in the Prestige & Above segment which now contributes to 86% of net sales. The company has undertaken transformational innovation and reshaped value propositions in the Mid & Upper Prestige segments. The company’s first single malt whisky Godawan, was launched under Hina’s leadership as part of its new premiumisation-led growth strategy. There has been thrust on investing behind New Growth Engines and initiatives to extract significant efficiency from the value chain, delivering 1.5-2x historical rates. Diageo India is now debt free and has a robust cash generation capability.  
• The organisation has introduced best-in-class policies and continues to build an inclusive & progressive culture where everyone is encouraged to find their purpose. There have been big shifts in talent and culture. 50% of the India Leadership team and 35% of senior leadership team comprise of women. Overall employee engagement is at 88%. 

Hina brings over three decades of leadership experience to this role. Prior to her current role, Hina was Managing Director, Diageo – Africa Emerging Markets (AEM), where she was instrumental in leading business operations in 37 markets. Hina led the transformation of AEM to become a significant growth driver for Africa, whilst doubling operating margins.  

Known for building strong teams with outstanding outcomes, Hina has a proven track record in diverse power markets – India, China, SE Asia and Africa across different sectors. She has held leadership positions in global companies including Reckitt, Mary Kay India and Nestlé India. Prior to joining Diageo, Hina was Sr. Vice President, Regional Director of Reckitt, North Asia, leading the business across China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The region became a top growth contributor to Reckitt’s operations, as well as the fastest growing amongst the top 50 Consumer companies in China, after Hina took over.  

Hina is a strong advocate of creating opportunities for women and contributes extensively to DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Programs.  

Hina’s contributions to business and DEI have been widely recognized through global and Indian industry accolades. She has recently been recognised as the CEO of the Year by Economic Times, at the ET Prime Women Leadership Awards 2023, and ranked among India’s ’50 Most Powerful Women in Business’ by Fortune India in 2023. Other awards include Business World’s Most Influential Women 2022 & 2023, Business Today’s Most Powerful Women in Business 2021 & 2022, EMpower Top 100 Ethnic Minority Role Model Lists (2020, 2019), WeQual I&D Award Winner (2019) and Cranfield University Top 50 Women to Watch (2019).  

Hina holds a Master’s degree in Business Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Delhi University.  

Hina enjoys spending time with her family. She loves travelling and discovering exotic destinations with her husband. Hina plays the sitar & piano and appreciates diverse genres of music, from old pop to instrumental.