Who Suman Sinha was—the PepsiCo legend who 'Indianised' colas. He passed away on Wednesday

Priya Mohan Sinha or Suman Sinha, the former CEO of PepsiCo India, passed away in Gurugram on Wednesday. Sinha, who is credited with ‘Indianisation’ of colas, was in his early eighties.

He was the second chairman of PepsiCo India who helmed the company for a decade— from 1993 to 2003. PepsiCo was one of the most controversial private companies in India when Sinha joined in 1993. Those were the days when foreign companies bore the full brunt of India's Swadeshi movement—a tumultuous period, marked by protests and dharnas against foreign investors.

Sinha started his career with Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), where he was the head of government relations.

Under his command, PepsiCo acquired Duke & Sons’ beverage, but lost the battle to acquire Thumbs Up and Limca brands to Coca Cola after an intense competition.

A nephew of the stalwart politician Jaiprakash Narayan, solidified his position at HLL in sales department in the 1980s. He took over from PepsiCo’s first CEO Ramesh Vangal.

Shiv Shivakumar, Group Executive President (Corporate Strategy) at Aditya Birla Group, in an obit for Hindu Business Line, wrote that Sinha had excellent rapport with many top government functionaires. Pepsico’s grasp on the affairs of government was impeccable.

Shivakumar, who was the sixth and last chairman of PepsiCo India, wrote that Sinha, was able to arrange a last-minute evacuation for HLL managers, who were under threat of violence from locals. Sinha got the president of India’s approval to get a Boeing jet landed in Assam to airlift the HLL managers at a time when the Parliament was debating the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister VP Singh on November 7, 1990. HLL’s withdrawal from Assam led to a dramatic drop in tea prices in the stated, an event that caused the state government to fall shortly after.

When Sinha left Pepsico after a decade-long journey, Then president company president Peter Thompson, in a memo to all company employees wrote: “The mark of a strong leader is to chart a winning course, build a great organisation and deliver outstanding results. Suman has accomplished all of that, and more”.

When Sinha left Pepsico, his farewell was attended by Bollywood biggies Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.