Blue Star reshuffles board as Sam Balsara exits, new leadership steps up

MUMBAI: Blue Star is shaking up its boardroom quietly, decisively, and with an eye firmly on the next phase of growth. One of India’s most recognisable corporate brands is refreshing its leadership bench as a marketing legend exits, a seasoned industrialist enters, and the executive engine gets more firepower .

Sam Balsara, chairman of Madison World and one of Indian advertising’s most influential figures, will retire as independent director on January 31 after completing two consecutive terms. Having joined the board in June 2017 and been reappointed in 2022, Balsara leaves at 75, closing a chapter defined by sharp brand thinking and a steady hand on consumer strategy. As chairman of the nomination and remuneration committee, his influence extended deep into leadership development and succession planning, shaping Blue Star’s next generation of decision-makers .

Stepping into the independent director role is M S Unnikrishnan, appointed for a five-year term with effect from January 29. With more than four decades of experience, Unnikrishnan currently heads the IITB–Monash Research Academy and previously ran Thermax group as managing director, steering the engineering major across global energy and environment businesses. His boardroom résumé already includes KEC International, Kirloskar Brothers, Greaves Cotton and Livguard Energy Technologies, alongside trusteeships at Akshayapatra and Jehangir Hospital, Pune. A mechanical engineering graduate from VNIT Nagpur with an advanced management programme from Harvard Business School, Unnikrishnan brings operational heft and global exposure to Blue Star’s board .

Continuity, however, remains central. B Thiagarajan has been reappointed managing director for a further term from April 1, 2026, through May 24, 2027—one day short of his 70th birthday. A Blue Star lifer since 1998, Thiagarajan has clocked more than four decades across B2B and B2C businesses, rising from board member in 2013 to joint managing director in 2016 and managing director in 2019. An electrical and electronics engineer from Madurai University with a senior executive programme from London Business School, he continues to play a prominent role in industry bodies including the CII national council, the Indian Green Building Council and the CII Green Cooling Council .

The executive bench is also getting younger muscle. Mohit Sud has been elevated as executive director, unitary cooling products, for a five-year term starting April 1, 2026. Sud joined Blue Star in March 2025 as group president, overseeing room air conditioners and commercial refrigeration with end-to-end responsibility spanning sales, marketing, R&D, manufacturing and supply chain. A mechanical engineer with an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur, Sud spent over two decades at Hindustan Unilever, leading sales and marketing across home care and beauty and wellbeing categories, most recently driving premium retail distribution .

Vir S Advani, chairman and managing director, framed the changes as both an inflection point and a vote of confidence. He credited Balsara with helping sharpen the brand’s relevance among younger consumers and deeper-tier markets, noting that his marketing insights helped Blue Star gain market share year after year. Unnikrishnan, Advani said, adds proven leadership across engineering products and international markets, while Thiagarajan’s extension will accelerate strategic programmes in growth, R&D and manufacturing and ensure a seamless leadership transition. On Sud, Advani was bluntly bullish, saying the company has been grooming him for board-level responsibility and that his consumer-market experience will help lift market share and profitability in unitary cooling products .

At 82 years old, Blue Star is signalling that longevity does not mean inertia. With one era ending and another being carefully engineered, the company is betting that fresh thinking, steady leadership and sharper execution will keep it cool—and competitive—when the heat is on.