Procter & Gamble has elevated Sundar Raman as the global chief executive of its fabric and home care division, which has brands such as Ariel and Tide. The business is the category within P&G's portfolio, accounting for a third of its total revenue. Raman succeeds Shailesh Jejurikar, who took over as chief operating officer at P&G this month as part of a global succession plan, and joined the growing league of Indians at the helm of global consumer firms. Tamil Nadu-born Raman earned his degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (1996) and a post-graduate diploma from IIM-Calcutta (1998). He began his career as a market analyst in India in 1998 from campus and soon moved to the US where he worked in a variety of roles from business intelligence to marketing, in P&G Beauty. In 2008, he joined North America fabric care to lead innovation and marketing, and in 2019 was appointed president of fabric care North America and P&G Professional, and expanded his responsibilities to global home care in 2020. The elevation of Indian executives, many with stints in local units, reflects the increasing importance of the country for multinationals as markets in the West hit a plateau. India particularly is an important destination for these companies, given its prime demographics and faster population growth. Two years ago, P&G's rival Unilever elevated Nitin Paranjpe as its global chief operating officer. Its India unit chairman Sanjiv Mehta was also appointed as president of South Asia and a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive.