After sudden exit, Birla Opus CEO Rakshit Hargave set to join Britannia

New Delhi: Soon after Grasim Industries disclosed that Rakshit Hargave had resigned as CEO of its paints business with effect from the close of business hours on December 5, 2025, a BestMediaInfo report said he is set to join Britannia Industries in a senior leadership role, likely as CEO, reporting to Varun Berry. 

Grasim told stock exchanges its board accepted Hargave’s request to “pursue opportunities outside the company,” and said Managing Director Himanshu Kapania will directly oversee the paints business until a successor is named. Hargave’s resignation letter is dated November 1, 2025. 

Several executives pointed out the “immediate effect” nature of the move surprising for a high-growth new business. (Grasim did not cite any reason beyond Hargave’s decision to move on; Britannia has not issued a statement yet.)

The exit lands amid a strong quarter for Grasim and visible ramp-up at its new paints venture, Birla Opus. For the September quarter (Q2 FY26), Grasim’s consolidated net profit rose 52.4 per cent to Rs 1,498.04 crore, while revenue from operations grew 16.6 per cent to Rs 39,899.5 crore, led by building materials and chemicals. 

On a standalone basis (largely the India businesses), revenue climbed 26 per cent to Rs 9,610.34 crore, driven by new businesses, Paints and B2B e-commerce, alongside stable core segments.

Within Building Materials (UltraTech, Birla Opus, Birla Pivot), revenue rose 28.31 per cent to Rs 22,253.32 crore and EBITDA jumped 55 per cent to Rs 2,950 crore, anchored by UltraTech; the company said initial investments in Birla Opus and Birla Pivot moderated segment margins. Birla Opus continued to gain revenue market share on the back of rapid distribution expansion, higher secondary offtake and brand visibility. The paints unit commissioned its Kharagpur plant in October 2025, taking installed capacity to 1,332 MLPA; cumulative paints capex stood at Rs 9,727 crore till September 2025.

Grasim also highlighted momentum at financial services arm Aditya Birla Capital, where Q2 revenue rose 3 per cent to Rs 10,569.31 crore; the lending portfolio (NBFC and HFC) grew 29 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,77,855 crore and total AUM reached Rs 5,50,240 crore. The company said it stands to benefit from broad-based domestic growth across infrastructure, housing and manufacturing.

Grasim credited Hargave, who joined in November 2021, with helping take Birla Opus from “project to launch,” establishing six integrated plants and scaling supply chain and distribution nationally, capabilities the board said will underpin the next phase of growth. 

Hargave would return to FMCG just as Britannia navigates a patch of muted volumes seen across parts of the sector and as it prepares to announce earnings.