Managing Director & CEO, Thyssenkrupp India

Mr. Ravi Kirpalani is the Managing Director and CEO of thyssenkrupp India. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) – Calcutta and is an Economics (Hons) graduate from the University of Delhi, India.

Career:

A veteran with over three decades of profound experience in sales, marketing and strategy, Mr. Kirpalani has worked with global and culturally diverse teams and led major transformational programmes. He has a deep passion for customer relationships, building brands and developing people.

Prior to joining thyssenkrupp, Mr. Kirpalani spent over 16 years at BP where he held a number of roles in India and in the UK. He became the Managing Director of Castrol India Ltd. in May 2009 where he was responsible for strategizing and providing effective leadership both during the high growth phases and in more challenging market conditions of the company. The market capitalization quadrupled during his tenure and Castrol India’s performance compared very well against its peers in India.

In 1999 Mr. Kirpalani joined Castrol India Ltd. as the General Manager, East and was promoted in 2002 to Vice President, Sales. In 2004, he was appointed as the Customer Director for India, Middle East, Turkey and Africa. In 2005, he moved to the UK as the Transformation Director and was a member of the global strategy team where he played a key role in the implementation of the global strategy. Prior to Castrol, he worked for Reckitt Benckiser for 12 years, in various sales and marketing roles.

In March 2016, Mr. Kirpalani joined thyssenkrupp India and as CEO of regional headquarters, he provides strategic direction and oversees all thyssenkrupp group companies in India. India is currently the third most important market in Asia for thyssenkrupp.