MUMBAI: Google India on Friday announced the appointment of Sanjay Gupta, currently Star & Disney India Country manager, as its new country manager and vice president of sales and operations for India.
In his new role, Gupta will drive Internet adoption among consumers and businesses and accelerating innovation. Based in Mumbai, Gupta will assume his position next year and will work with the teams based in Gurgaon, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.
“Our Indian operation is important and strategic for its own sake but also for the innovation which then feeds breakthroughs elsewhere in Google. By combining Gupta’s expertise, experience and leadership with our teams, we can build further on our existing efforts in this highly dynamic, competitive and exciting digital economy,” Scott Beaumont, president, APAC, Google, said.
“This will provide an opportunity to leverage the power of technology to solve some of India’s unique challenges and make Internet an engine of economic growth for people and communities,” Gupta said.
With a career spanning nearly three decades, Gupta joins Google from Star and Disney India. During that time, he played a pivotal role in Star becoming the largest media company in India. Gupta played an instrumental role in extending their traditional television content to digital consumers through Hotstar. He is also widely credited for building their sports business via the acquisition of marquee cricketing properties and the launch of the hugely popular kabaddi and football leagues: Pro Kabaddi League and Indian Super League.
Apart from his numerous strategic and business wins, Gupta also displays deep consumer understanding and has used it to build strong brands. During his time at Hindustan Unilever he led marketing for two of the company’s critical segments: Oral and Home care. Then at Bharti Airtel as chief marketing officer for the mobile business, he spearheaded several successful sales and marketing initiatives. He is a post graduate from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kolkata, and is an engineer from Delhi College of Engineering.
Google India, which operates as a reseller, posted a 1.4% decline in gross revenue to Rs 92.03 billion in FY19, as against Rs 93.37 billion in FY18. The company’s net revenue stood at Rs 39.928 billion, according to regulatory filing sourced by business intelligence platform, Tofler. Net profit rose 16% to Rs 4.728 billion in FY19.
