Bata India appoints new CEO

Footwear major Bata India has appointed Gunjan Shah, former CEO of Britannia Industries, as its new CEO. He will take over from SandeepKataria, who was elevated as the global CEO of Bata Brands in November. Shah will join Bata in June.

Before moving to Britannia in 2007, Shah has also spent the early stages of his career working with brands such as Asian Paints and Motorola. Shah, an alumnus of the IIM-Kolkata, has experience working across varied sectors spanning consumer durables, telecom and FMCG. He has played a crucial role in growing the Britannia business, having led several business divisions of the company for more than a decade.

Incorporated as Bata Shoe Company in 1931, the company was set up initially as a small operation in Konnagar near Kolkata in 1932. In January 1934, the foundation stone for the first building of Bata’s operation - now called the Bata. In the years that followed, the overall site was doubled in area. This township is popularly known as Batanagar. It was also the first manufacturing facility in the Indian shoe industry to receive the ISO: 9001 certification.

The company went public in 1973 when it changed its name to Bata India. Today, Bata India has established itself as India’s largest footwear retailer. It has a retail network of over 1,375 stores in all the metros, mini-metros and towns