
Nandan Petrochem Limited (NPL) has appointed Ashish Desai as Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). Based at the company’s corporate office in Goregaon, Mumbai, Desai joins the leadership team with more than 30 years of experience in human resources, with expertise spanning industrial relations, manufacturing HR, employee relations, people development and business HR.
In his new role, Desai will lead the human resources function at Nandan Petrochem and contribute to the company’s people and organisational priorities. His responsibilities will include strengthening the organisation’s culture and core values, with a focus on building trust as a foundation for its people practices and workplace environment.
Before joining Nandan Petrochem, Desai served as General Manager & Head Corporate Industrial Relations at Everest Industries Limited. In this role, he was responsible for corporate HR and industrial relations for manufacturing operations.
Prior to Everest Industries, Desai was General Manager & Head HR at Mahindra CIE Automotive Ltd., where he led human resources and industrial relations for the company’s Chakan operations.
Desai earlier spent more than five years with Larsen & Toubro. He served as AGM & Head HR – Personnel for the company’s Electrical & Automation operations at Mahape, Navi Mumbai. His responsibilities during this period included human resources and personnel-related functions.
Before Larsen & Toubro, Desai worked with The Tata Power Company Limited as Group Head – Business HR for its Transmission & Distribution Division. He spent three years in the business HR leadership role, gaining experience in managing people-related functions within the division.
A significant part of Desai’s career was spent with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Farm Division, where he worked for 17 years as Deputy Manager – Employee Relations & Development. His long tenure with the organisation gave him extensive experience in employee relations and development.
Across his career, Desai has worked with manufacturing-intensive organisations and held responsibilities covering employee relations, industrial relations, HR leadership and workforce development. His experience across these areas will form part of his mandate as he takes charge of the HR function at Nandan Petrochem.
Nandan Petrochem Limited is an Indian manufacturer of genuine oils, greases, specialty lubricants and AdBlue® (DEF). The company has more than 30 years of industry experience and has a presence across India, while also exporting to more than 35 countries.
NPL offers more than 2,000 SKUs across 15+ industries and works with more than 40 OEMs. The company also operates in the AdBlue® segment through NPL BlueSky Automotive, its technical joint venture with Germany-based KRUSE Automotive GmbH.
NPL BlueSky Automotive has been supporting cleaner mobility since 2011. According to the company, NPL has 29 manufacturing units, including 26 dedicated to AdBlue®, and a workforce of more than 800 employees.
Desai’s appointment adds more than three decades of HR and industrial relations experience to Nandan Petrochem’s leadership team. In his new position, he will focus on the company’s people function while contributing to its culture, core values, employee practices and organisational priorities.




