Meta India head Ajit Mohan quits with immediate effect

Meta India head, Ajit Mohan, has stepped down from his role at the company with immediate effect, a company executive confirmed in a statement. Mohan had been appointed as managing director and vice-president of India operations by the company, then known only as Facebook, in September 2018, before joining the company in January 2019.

Mohan helmed the company’s India operations through a tumultuous phase for the company globally, which included numerous data collection and surveillance reports by whistleblowers, including the notable Cambridge Analytica scandal. Mohan joined the company more than a year after its previous country head, Umang Bedi, stepped down.

Prior to joining Meta, Mohan served as the chief executive of homegrown streaming platform Hotstar, now known as Disney Plus Hotstar.

Nicola Mendelsohn, vice-president of Meta’s global business group, said in a statement, “Ajit has decided to step down from his role at Meta to pursue another opportunity outside of the company. Over the last four years, he has played an important role in shaping and scaling our India operations so they can serve many millions of Indian businesses, partners and people. We remain deeply committed to India and have a strong leadership team in place to carry on all our work and partnerships. We are grateful for Ajit’s leadership and contribution and wish him the very best for the future.”

The move comes as the company looks to consolidate its position in the country. India represents the largest market for Meta, with Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp counting over 239 million, 230 million and 400 million monthly active users, respectively.

In recent times, Meta has stepped up its efforts to monetize its business as well, through channels such as advertisements on Instagram Reels and WhatsApp for Business. The latter also has its highest number of users in India — in December last year, company chief Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement that WhatsApp for Business had 50 million users in the country, of which 15 million were from India.