Shonali Chakravarty joins UBL to lead Communications, Sustainability and CSR

In a move that reflects the expanding strategic role of communications within businesses, Shonali Chakravarty has joined United Breweries Limited (UBL), a HEINEKEN Company, to lead Communications, Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the business in India.

The appointment follows Chakravarty's six-year stint at Lenovo, where she most recently led Enterprise Communications across Asia Pacific. Her new role at UBL brings Communications, Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) together under a single leadership mandate, extending her remit beyond communications into areas increasingly central to business strategy.

The move reflects a broader shift in how leading companies are defining senior communications roles. Communications leaders are increasingly being entrusted not only with reputation and executive communications, but also with sustainability, social impact, stakeholder engagement and corporate citizenship. These are areas that have a direct bearing on business resilience, licence to operate and long-term value creation.

The scale of the mandate at UBL reflects that convergence. As India's largest beer company, UBL has a presence across 13 states, with 19 owned and 17 contract breweries, giving its Sustainability and CSR agenda an extensive operational and social footprint across 20+ projects. The company has an overall manufacturing capacity of approximately 24 million hectolitres and a value chain that, according to a recently released socio-economic impact study by Steward Redqueen, contributes nearly ₹43,000 crore to the Indian economy and supports around 2.95 lakh jobs and livelihoods across agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, retail, hospitality and tourism.

With 93% of its inputs sourced locally, UBL's sustainability agenda spans sustainable agriculture, water stewardship, responsible sourcing and community development, alongside the company's wider environmental and social commitments. The breadth of this agenda makes the integration of Communications, Sustainability and CSR a particularly significant enterprise mandate.

UBL is part of HEINEKEN, one of the world's largest brewing companies, with a market valuation of over €40 billion and operations across more than 70 countries. UBL, a listed company on Indian stock exchanges with a market capitalisation of over ₹35,000 crore, owns some of India's most iconic beer brands, including Kingfisher, Kingfisher Ultra, Heineken, Heineken Silver and Amstel Grande.

For Chakravarty, the appointment builds on a career spanning high-growth, highly scrutinised and complex businesses. Prior to Lenovo, she held senior communications roles at Uber and OYO, where public policy, regulatory engagement, stakeholder management, executive communications and corporate reputation were closely intertwined with business strategy.
Her move is emblematic of a larger evolution in the communications profession: leadership is increasingly being measured not simply by the geography of a role, but by the breadth of business functions and enterprise outcomes it influences. By bringing Communications, Sustainability and CSR together, UBL's mandate places Chakravarty at the intersection of reputation, responsible business, stakeholder trust and corporate impact.

As sustainability and corporate citizenship move closer to the core of business strategy, the role of communications leaders is evolving with them. From shaping how companies tell their stories to helping shape the story of the business itself.