Atul Singh to take over as Coke India president on September 1

Sanjiv Gupta, 44, Coke's outgoing division president, is leaving Coca-Cola India to pursue personal interests; he had joined in 1997 as marketing head

Atul Singh, Coca-Cola's East, Central and South China division head, is going to take over as Coca-Cola India president on September 1. He replaces Sanjiv Gupta the soft drink firm's outgoing division president.

Singh has been a key member of the leadership team since joining Coca-Cola's China Division in 2001, initially as region manager, East China, and then as vice president of Operations, Mainland China, and later as deputy division president, China Division.

This will be Singh's second assignment with Coke India. He was was vice president of Operations for Coca-Cola India, responsible for managing the franchise bottlers and key accounts during 1999-2002.

Before joining The Coca-Cola Company, Singh held a number of leadership roles at Colgate Palmolive in the US, Romania and Nigeria.

Sanjiv Gupta is leaving Coca-Cola India to pursue personal interests. Gupta, 44, had joined the company in 1997 as its marketing head. When Gupta took over as CEO in July 2003, he was the second Indian to head Coca-Cola in India. The first was American-Indian Jaidev Raja.

Coca-Cola India is scheduled to make another major announcement soon, when it appoints a new Chief Financial Officer for India. The present CFO Mark Roddy has already finished his tenure. Roddy is expected to move out in September this year.

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