Mr. Pankaj Poddar is the Group CEO at Cosmo First Ltd, where he leads the company's diverse business units, including Cosmo Films, Cosmo Speciality Chemicals, Cosmo Plastech, Cosmo Consumer, Zigly and Cosmo Ferrites. He also serves as the Director for Cosmo Speciality Chemicals Private Ltd, Cosmo Speciality Polymers Private Ltd and Cosmo Global.
With a career spanning over 30 years, Mr. Poddar is widely recognized as a turnaround specialist and a quick decision-maker, with strengths in commercials, analytics, negotiation, team engagement & strategy building. His journey with Cosmo began in 2011 as the Chief Financial Officer, overseeing financial operations both for India & the International Subsidiaries. He later assumed the role of President - India Operations, and was elevated to the CEO in 2013, playing a pivotal role in laying down the foundation for the emergence of the new business verticals.
Under his leadership, Cosmo has experienced significant transformation and growth, He is a regular speaker at various packaging industry associations such as Organization of Plastic Processors of India, IFCA, and Plastic India.
His leadership excellence has been recognized by various external forums, including:
1. 'People's CEO' award at the NIPM National HR Excellence Award Ceremony (2018)
2. 'Young Business Leader Award' at the Dare to Dream Awards held by Zee Business in collaboration with SAP (2018)
3. "Platinum Award" for "CEO of HR" by HRAI (2019)
Prior to joining Cosmo, Mr. Poddar held senior financial leadership roles at several prominent global organizations.