HUL chairman Harish Manwani appointed independent director on Tata Sons Board

New Delhi: Hindustan Unilever (HUL) Non-Executive Chairman Harish Manwani has been appointed as an Independent Director of Tata Sons. Manwani, who is also the former Unilever Global Chief Operating Officer, would join Tata Sons board, said a statement on on Friday. Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said: “We welcome Harish to the Board of Directors. Harish brings substantial experience of managing and leading businesses on a global scale.” [caption id=“attachment_3123350” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Hindustan Unilever chairman Harish Manwani. Image courtesy Hindustan Unilever.[/caption] Manwani is also the Global Executive Advisor to Blackstone Private Equity group. He also serves on the Board of Qualcomm, Gilead Sciences, Nielsen Holdings, Whirlpool, Economic Development Board (EDB) of Singapore and is the Chairman of the Executive Board of the Indian School of Business. “His contribution and counsel will be of great value to Tata Sons in its governance as well as in its strategic development,” Chandrasekaran added. Manwani (64), HUL’s long-serving non-executive Chairman, will retire in June this year. Through his career, Manwani held several senior management positions in Unilever which included heading businesses in North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa. Tata Sons is the promoter of the major operating Tata group companies.