Meta names Arun Srinivas as managing director and head of India operations

Meta said on Monday that Arun Srinivas has been appointed as the managing director and head of its India operations. His appointment would be effective from July 1. Srinivas currently heads the tech giant’s ads business in India.

Meta states that as part of his new expanded role, Srinivas will focus on “bringing the organization’s business, innovation, and revenue priorities together to serve partners and clients, while continuing to support the long-term growth of Meta’s business and commitment to India.” He will also “spearhead the India charter and strengthen the strategic relationships with the country’s leading brands, advertisers, developers and partners to drive growth for India as a market.”

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Srinivas, who is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, has nearly three decades of experience in sales and marketing leadership roles at companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Reebok, OLA, and investment firm WestBridge Capital. Ever since he joined Meta in 2020, he played an important role in leading Meta’s work with the country’s largest advertisers and agency partners focusing on strategic revenue priorities such as AI, Reels, and Messaging.

Sandhya Devanathan, Meta’s vice president of the India and South East Asia region said: “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. Meta in India is leading the way in AI adoption, WhatsApp, and Reels, and Arun’s 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. He will continue to work closely with me as we scale the business in India.”

Srinivas will be reporting to Devanathan once he transitions into his new role.

This comes amid a clash between Meta and Indian authorities over allegations of the company’s anti-competitive practices in the country. In November 2024, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had fined the company over antitrust violations.

The antitrust regulator also directed WhatsApp not to share user data collected on its platform with other Meta companies or products for advertising purposes for five years. The fine relates to how WhatsApp’s 2021 Privacy Policy was implemented and how user data was collected and shared with other Meta companies.

Meta said it disagreed with the fine, and claimed it would hurt its business in India. The tech company also rebuked the CCI for “not having the technical expertise to understand the ramifications of the order.” In January, however, Meta got a reprieve from the antitrust regulator’s five-year data sharing ban when the National Company Law Tribunal temporarily suspended the ban, according to Meta, could have upended its advertising business in India.

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