Aniket PujariNEW DELHI: Former Flipkart executive Jeyandran Venugopal has been named President & CEO of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), marking another significant senior-level appointment at India’s largest retailer, which is preparing for a public listing.
In his new role, Venugopal will work closely with Isha Ambani, executive director at RRVL, and the company’s leadership team under the guidance of Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd, and Manoj Modi.
Venugopal joined Reliance Retail from Walmart-backed Flipkart, where he most recently served as chief product and technology officer (CPTO). At Flipkart, he led large, cross-functional teams across product, engineering, design, data science, IT, security, and infrastructure. He also oversaw central revenue, customer growth and retention, marketing, monetization initiatives, and the externalisation and commerce cloud business.
Before Flipkart, Venugopal served as CPTO at Myntra and Jabong, where he led product, engineering, and data functions through a period of rapid scale and improving profitability.
His earlier career also includes senior leadership roles at Yahoo and Amazon Web Services, where he contributed to building and scaling global technology and commerce platforms.
At RRVL, his mandate includes strengthening the group’s retail portfolio, accelerating omni-channel expansion, and driving technology-led operational excellence across the value chain, according to people familiar with the development.
Venugopal brings over 25 years of experience across retail, e-commerce, technology, and business transformation.
He holds dual Master’s degrees in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering, Guindy.
V. Subramaniam continues to be the managing director of Reliance Retail Ltd, a subsidiary of RRVL, the holding company of all the retail companies under the Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) group.
Strengthening the leadership team ahead of an IPO
Venugopal’s appointment follows other recent top-level hires in the company’s retail and consumer goods business. Last month, Mint reported that Reliance Retail recruited former Carrefour executive Guillaume de Colonges to lead its grocery business.
These moves come as Reliance Retail prepares for a public listing, expected in 2027 or 2028. The business is valued at about $100 billion, according to an October 13 report by Axis Securities.
Reliance Retail remains India’s largest retailer, with businesses spanning consumer electronics, grocery, fashion and lifestyle, and connectivity. RRVL, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, operates an integrated omnichannel network of 19,821 stores and digital commerce platforms across grocery, consumer electronics, fashion and lifestyle, and pharma. It has a registered customer base of over 369 million.
For the year ended 31 March 2025, RRVL reported a consolidated turnover of ₹3.3 trillion and an Ebitda of ₹25,053 crore.
The company operates small-format grocery stores and supermarkets under Reliance Smart, Reliance Smart Bazaar, including stores acquired from the Future Group, Fresh Signature, Freshpik, and Metro Cash & Carry. Its digital grocery platform, JioMart, continues to scale nationwide. While the company does not disclose detailed store counts, it operates close to 5,000 outlets in the grocery category alone.
India’s total retail market, estimated at $1.15 trillion in 2025 by Deloitte, is projected to expand to $1.8 trillion by 2030.
In a filing to the stock exchanges on Monday, RIL said that Reliance Retail Ventures has informed the company that a composite scheme of arrangement involving Reliance Retail Ltd, RRVL, Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL) and Tira Beauty Ltd—soon to be renamed Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (New RCPL)—became effective on 1 December 2025.
With this, RCPL, the packaged consumer goods subsidiary of RIL, stands dissolved. RCPL sells brands such as Campa Cola and Independence flour.
As part of the scheme, the consumer brands business of RRVL has been demerged into “New RCPL,” and in return New RCPL will issue one fully paid equity share of ₹10 for every two fully paid equity shares of ₹10 held in RRVL. Following the restructuring, New RCPL will become a direct subsidiary of RIL, which will hold 83.56% of its equity.
