K. G. Ananthakrishnan

Shri K G Ananthakrishnan has been appointed as part-time Non-Official Director as well as Non-Executive Chairman on the Board of Punjab National Bank w.e.f. 07.11.2022.

Shri Ananthakrishnan has more than 40 years of progressive leadership experience in pharmaceuticals industry. He is regarded as an industry thought leader, strategic thinker and out-of-the-box problem solver. He is recognized for creating high performance organizations, driving success, delivering and sustaining revenue and profit growth in highly competitive markets.

He has vast experience and expertise in areas of strategic planning, partnership building, revenue and profit optimization, turnaround management, sales and marketing leadership, policy development, brand building, finance, budgeting and cost management.

Shri Ananthakrishnan holds Master’s degree in Marketing Management (Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai) and Bachelor’s degree in Science (Osmania University, Hyderabad). He has undergone Executive Development Program conducted by Wharton Business School, USA and Finance for Non-Finance Program conducted by INSEAD, France.

He commenced his career in 1976 with Novartis India Limited (in sales) and handled diverse product portfolio and brand marketing functions PAN India. Later, he joined Pharmacia India as Vice President – Sales & Marketing and transitioned to Pfizer India Ltd. as Senior Director – Pharmaceuticals. Thereafter, he joined Fulford (India) Ltd. as Chief Operating Officer and was part of successful integration of the operations of Fulford (India) Ltd. and Organon (India) Ltd. with MSD Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. As Vice President and Managing Director, South Asia Region, MSD, he ensured transformation of the combined entity to become one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies, tripled revenues in six years and established brand leadership in several therapeutic segments.

He served as Director General, Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) and Co-Chair (Pharma Committee) – Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and contributed in development of several important policy initiatives.

He is presently mentoring Healthcare Technology Start Up. Further, he is an Advisory Panel member of Indian Education Society Pharmaceutical Management Program and also a member on the Board of Ascent Meditech Limited. He is invited as guest speaker by leading management institutions both in India and USA.