From his first role as a regional sales manager in northern India in 1987, Rakesh Kapoor now joins the likes of Citigroup’s Vikram Pandit, PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi and MasterCard’s Ajay Banga as he assumes his new responsibility as head of Reckitt Benckiser Group.

Kapoor succeeded incumbent chief executive officer Bart Becht at RB. He will assume the role of CEO at RB from September 1.

The company has catapulted itself into a global organisation with annual sales turnover of £8.5 billion in 2010 against £7.8 billion in the previous year.

“I am delighted to take on this role and very much look forward to leading the business to its next stage of growth and performance, supported by an excellent senior management team,” Kapoor said.

A chemical engineer from BITS Pilani and an XLRI Jamshedpur alumnus, Rakesh Kapoor joined Reckitt Benckiser in India in 1987. He was appointed to executive committee in 2006. Having led the pan-European and largest health care business at RB in his leadership role at Northern Europe, Kapoor was one of the architects of Boots Healthcare International acquisition in 2006.

Kapoor’s elevation definitely reinforces the importance of Indian market for the global FMCG major known for household brand names such as Harpic, Dettol, Mortein and Lizol.

In a recent interview, RB’s managing director in India, Chander Mohan Sethi said, “We are among the top three fastest growing companies in the domestic market and we hope to consistently be there. India is certainly one of the key developing markets for Reckitt Benckiser and has a very high priority.”