Meta Appoints Arun Srinivas as New India Head Amid Strategic Leadership Shift

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, announced today the appointment of Arun Srinivas as its new Managing Director and Head for India, effective July 1, 2025. This move follows the recent expansion of Sandhya Devanathan’s role, who now oversees both India and Southeast Asia as Vice President, with Arun Srinivas reporting directly to her. The leadership transition comes on the heels of the resignation of Shivnath Thukral, Meta’s Vice President and Head of Public Policy in India, and marks a pivotal moment for the tech giant in one of its largest markets.

Srinivas, who has been steering Meta’s India ads business since 2022, brings nearly three decades of experience in sales, marketing, and strategic leadership. Previously, Arun Srinivas served as Chief Operating Officer and Global Chief Marketing Officer at Ola Mobility and held key roles at Hindustan Unilever, Reebok, and WestBridge Capital. In his new role, Srinivas will focus on unifying Meta’s business, innovation, and revenue strategies, strengthening partnerships with brands, advertisers, developers, and other stakeholders to drive growth in India. Meta highlighted that Srinivas will lead the company’s India charter, emphasizing AI adoption, WhatsApp, and Reels as key growth areas.

Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President for India and Southeast Asia, praised Srinivas’s appointment, stating, “As India continues to be at the forefront of economic growth and innovation, we are excited to have Arun at the helm of our efforts in this critical market. His impressive track record of building high-performing teams, driving product innovation, and fostering strong partnerships makes him the ideal leader to drive Meta’s continued investment in the country.”

The appointment comes at a time when Meta is navigating complex regulatory challenges in India. In November 2024, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined Meta for alleged anti-competitive practices and imposed a five-year ban on WhatsApp sharing user data with other Meta-owned platforms for advertising purposes. Although an Indian tribunal temporarily suspended the data-sharing restriction earlier this year, the ongoing scrutiny underscores the delicate balance Meta must strike in its largest market, which boasts over a billion monthly users across its apps.

Srinivas’s elevation follows a series of high-profile leadership changes at Meta India. In 2022, Devanathan herself was appointed Vice President of Meta India after the departure of Ajit Mohan, WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose, and public policy director Rajiv Aggarwal. The company has since been working to bolster its presence in India, including launching initiatives like JioMart on WhatsApp and expanding its AI and engineering teams in Bengaluru.