Swiggy: Mallika Srinivasan steps down as Swiggy’s independent director

Mallika Srinivasan has stepped down as an independent director at food delivery major Swiggy, roughly a year after taking up the job, the firm said in a statement on Thursday.

The firm did not name a replacement. Srinivasan is the chairperson and managing director of Tractor And Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE).

Swiggy said Srinivasan was stepping down due to “increasing business commitments,” without explaining further. The change comes ahead of Swiggy’s public market debut with draft public offering papers set to be filed in the next few months. The firm has been working hard to improve numbers and bring down cash burn, especially for its quick commerce division Instamart.

ET first reported on January 25 that Swiggy was preparing to cut its workforce by 6% affecting 350-400 roles across teams like technology, call centre, and corporate roles.

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The firm had appointed Srinivasan along with Delhivery cofounder and chief executive (CEO) Sahil Barua, and Shailesh Haribhakti, chairman of the financial services firm Shailesh Haribhakti & Associates, in February last year. They were the first set of independent directors to join the Swiggy board.

Till the time, Swiggy’s board consisted of Sriharsha Majety, CEO and cofounder of Swiggy; Nandan Reddy, cofounder of Swiggy; Larry Illg, CEO of largest investor Prosus’ Edtech and Food divisions; Ashutosh Sharma, head of investment, India, Prosus Ventures; Sumer Juneja, managing director, India and EMEA, SoftBank Investment Advisors; and Anand Daniel, partner at Accel.On December 6, the firm had appointed Anand Kripalu, managing director and global CEO of specialty packaging company Essel Propack, as an independent director and the chairperson of its board of directors.