Maharashtra, India, February 2026 – Croda has elevated Dr. Smita Pawar Rajput to Head of Business Development – Asia, entrusting her with leading strategic growth and market expansion initiatives across the Asian continent.
In her new role, Dr. Smita will spearhead high-value partnerships and commercial strategy across the life sciences and specialty chemicals sectors. Operating in a hybrid capacity, she will drive regional growth, strengthen market positioning, and expand Croda’s footprint across key Asian markets.
This elevation follows her impactful tenure as Business Development Manager – Pharma (South Asia) at Croda, where she successfully managed operations across India, Southeast Asia, and the ANZ region. Her leadership contributed to strengthening customer relationships and driving commercial expansion in high-growth markets.
Prior to joining Croda, Dr. Smita built an impressive six-year career at Merck Performance Materials, India, where she rose to become Business Development Manager for Cosmetics across India, Southeast Asia, ANZ, and Taiwan. During her tenure, she also served as Marketing Manager for Actives and Formulation and Field Marketing Manager, leading regional marketing initiatives and expanding product portfolios across Asia-Pacific.
Her professional foundation is deeply rooted in technical excellence. She began her career with key roles at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Zydus Cadila Healthcare, and earlier earned recognition through an innovation contest that led to an internship at Johnson & Johnson, where she worked on consumer healthcare platform technologies.
Dr. Smita holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from ICT (Institute of Chemical Technology), Mumbai, with six international research publications and three Indian patents to her credit. She also completed her M.Pharm in Drug Delivery Technology from ICT and B.Pharm from NDMV P Samaj’s College of Pharmacy, Nashik, securing a 99.85 percentile in the GATE examination.
Her elevation reflects Croda’s confidence in her ability to merge scientific rigor with commercial acumen, positioning the company for accelerated growth across Asia.
About Croda
Croda, founded in 1925, is a FTSE 100 specialty chemicals company known for sustainable, high-performance ingredients and technologies used in some of the world’s most successful brands. With over 6,100 employees globally, Croda operates with a shared purpose to use “Smart science to improve lives™.” The company is committed to becoming Climate, Land, and People Positive by 2030, with a strong focus on bio-based raw materials and sustainable innovation.
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