Cargill appoints Ravinder Balain as Country President for India

Cargill, a global food and agriculture corporation, today announced the appointment of Ravinder Balain as Country President for Cargill in India, and Dheeraj Talreja as Vice President and Managing Director for Food South Asia. The leadership movement comes at a time when the company is seeking to strengthen its strategic operations and growth in India, reaffirming its commitment to innovation, sustainability, and people-first values.

Balain joined Cargill in 2024 and now holds the country leadership role, in addition to his enterprise role as Senior Managing Director for Cargill’s Animal Nutrition & Health business, the company stated.

He will be leading strategic collaboration across all Cargill enterprises and functions in India. In this new role, Balain will spearhead the company’s India operations and market growth, strengthen government and stakeholder engagement, ensure business continuity, and advise the global executive team on India’s evolving landscape.

He will also continue to oversee Cargill’s Animal Nutrition & Health (ANH) business in South Asia, ensuring the delivery of Cargill’s nutritional core into high-quality and innovative nutrition solutions through brands like Purina, Provimi & Vetcare. 

Spanning a career of over 33 years, his prior experience includes serving as Managing Director for South Asia and Southeast Asia at Corteva Agrisciences (formerly DuPont), as well as spending more than three decades in senior global and regional marketing roles at DuPont, where he focused on market creation and talent capability building.

“India is a strategic growth market for Cargill, and I am honoured to lead our efforts here,” said Balain. “Our focus will be on deepening partnerships, driving innovation, and delivering sustainable solutions that support our customers and communities. Together, we will build on Cargill’s strong foundation and unlock new opportunities for growth, he added.”

Talreja is a seasoned professional with a distinguished career spanning over two decades across diverse industries and geographies, including food ingredients, speciality chemicals, and manufacturing. Most recently, he was leading AAK India, South Asia & Sub-Saharan Africa, where he drove the company’s transformation from a joint venture to a wholly owned entity. He has also held senior leadership roles at Huntsman Singapore, where he was instrumental in driving commercial strategy and operational turnaround across North East and South East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and other high-growth markets.

At Cargill, Talreja will be responsible for delivering on Food APAC strategic priorities, including driving innovation, operational excellence, and customer engagement across South Asia, according to the company.

“I am excited to join Cargill at this pivotal moment. India’s food, health and nutrition landscape is evolving rapidly. I look forward to working with our teams, partners and stakeholders to deliver innovative, nutritious, customer-centric solutions and driving Cargill’s purpose of nourishing the world. Cargill’s legacy and values resonate deeply with me, and I am committed to driving the impact agenda in this key geography for Cargill,”

said Talreja.