Vikram Sakhuja elected MRUCI Chairman; Board clears IRS pilot in metro and two states

New Delhi: The Media Research Users Council India (MRUCI) has announced the appointment of Vikram Sakhuja, Partner and Director at Madison World, as its new Chairman, and Dhruba Mukherjee, CEO of ABP, as Vice-Chairman, following the Council’s 31st Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Monday, September 22, 2025.

The appointments were formally ratified at MRUCI’s Board meeting, held immediately after the AGM. 

Shashidhar Sinha, Executive Chairman of Mediabrands India, has also been named Chairman of the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) Technical Committee.

Sakhuja has taken over from Shailesh Gupta, Wholetime Director, Jagran Prakashan, who served two consecutive terms from 2023 to 2025. 

The Board has also approved the pilot for a readership survey, beginning with a metro and two states. 

Gupta said, “By beginning with a metro and two states, we are ensuring financial prudence while building operational confidence. The learnings from this phase will guide the nationwide rollout, delivering a robust and credible readership measurement system that the print industry deserves.”

He also extended his appreciation to stakeholders and offered his best wishes to the new leadership.

Sakhuja said, “I thank Shailesh Gupta for his leadership and guidance. I am deeply honoured to take on the role of Chairman at MRUCI and thank the Board for placing their confidence in me. Our endeavour is to restore IRS as the gold standard in readership research and the most credible survey in the country.”

MRUCI also announced the induction of four new members to its Board of Governors:

• Navaneeth LV, CEO, THG Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
• Surinder Chawla, President, Response, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.
• Shashidhar Sinha, Executive Chairman, Mediabrands – India
• Upali Nag, President Strategy – South Asia, WPP Media

Across his 38-year career, Sakhuja has also been the Global CEO of Maxus WW, a GroupM company; the CEO of GroupM South Asia; and the CEO of Mindshare South Asia. He has also held senior marketing, media and market research positions in P&G, Coca-Cola and Star TV.

He has served on several industry body boards/committees, including ASCI, ABC, RSCI, BARC, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, AAAI committees with ISA, INS and IBDF. 

He is the current Chairman of the Technical Committee for BARC, Board member of ABC, Co-chair of IBDF-AAAI subcommittee on payments and Ad Club past President. 

Mukherjee has been with ABP Pvt. Ltd. since 1997, joining as a management trainee and rising through the ranks to become CEO. Over the years, he has overseen brand management, audience development, ad sales, and production.

A Calcuttan, Mukherjee holds a B.Com (Hons) from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta, and an MBA from IISW&BM under Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of the London School of Economics & Political Science and the Harvard Business School’s Senior Executive Leadership Program.