Narayanan, the first Indian to be appointed country head after a gap of over 16 years, will take charge as the new Managing Director of Nestle India with effect from August 1.
The top-level change comes a month after Nestle withdrew Maggi from stores after tests by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) showed an excess presence of the heavy metal. It has since challenged the findings in the Bombay High Court.
"Nomination has been received from Nestle SA for the appointment of Suresh Narayanan as the MD of Nestle India with effect from August 1, 2015," Nestle India said in a filing to BSE.
Benet, who took over as Nestle India head on October 1, 2013, will be leaving Nestle India on July 25 and relocating to Nestle Group Head Office in Switzerland, it added.
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Narayanan, who had joined the Nestle Group in 1999 in India, is currently the Chairman and CEO of Nestle Philippines.
Last month, Nestle India had announced that it was in the process of destroying Maggi noodles worth Rs 320 crore after it was banned by the safety regulator FSSAI due to presence of excess lead and taste enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG).
On June 5, FSSAI had banned Maggi noodles, directing Nestle to immediately withdraw and recall all the nine variants from the market.