Public policy teams have increasingly critical roles in
companies efforts to balance regulatory issues as Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's government has boosted domestic electronics manufacturing while backing
tougher regulations on tech firms.
Binu George, who looked at corporate affairs and strategy,
Surabhi Pant who worked on policy and public affairs, and Nikhil Kaura from the
same team quit last week, two sources said.
They were part of a seven-member team headed by Rajiv
Aggarwal, a former bureaucrat who, before joining Samsung in December, led
public policy at Meta and Uber in India.
The three executives did not respond to a request for
comment. Samsung declined to comment.
The reasons for the departures were not immediately clear,
but they come at a time of challenges for Samsung in a key growth market, where
it recently raced ahead of rival Xiaomi to become the biggest smartphone
player.
However, regulations that could affect the smartphone sector
include India's plans to order removal of pre-installed apps under proposed new
security rules and a drive to get firms to make devices compatible with a
home-grown navigation system that rivals the U.S. Global Positioning System
(GPS).
Samsung racked up sales of $10.3 billion in India in fiscal
2021-22, with smartphones making up $6.7 billion. Data from Counterpoint
Research shows its market share of 20% for the last quarter of 2022 made it the
biggest player. -Reuters