Sanjeev Gandhi is Managing Director and CEO at Orica Ltd., the world’s largest commercial explosives and mining services company. Mr Gandhi was appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in April 2021, after previously holding the role of Group Executive and President, Australia Pacific and Asia. Prior to joining Orica, Sanjeev is a former Executive Director of publicly listed German Chemical company BASF SE. During his 26-year career with BASF, he had held several senior marketing, commercial and business leadership roles including as head of Asia Pacific and head of global chemicals segment (intermediates & petrochemicals).

Under his leadership, the company posted its best first‑half earnings in a decade: EBIT surged 34% to AUD 472.3 M and operating cash flow grew 29%, complemented by a 32% hike in interims dividend.  Gandhi also achieved the lowest serious‑injury case rate in company history and advanced decarbonization efforts, cutting Scope 1 and 2 emissions by over 1 Mt CO₂.

Gandhi holds strong educational credentials with his undergraduate degree from the University of Pune in 1989 and a 1989 – 1991 Master of Business Administration – MBA in Marketing at the Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development (BVDU), Pune. With a robust skill set that includes Petrochemicals, Specialty Chemicals, Chemicals, Asia Pacific, Chemical Engineering and more, Gandhi brings extensive global experience to his leadership role at Orica. Indiaspora is proud to have Sanjeev Gandhi  on our Business Leaders 2.0 List.