NEW DELHI — Indian firm Integral PR has promoted Sujay Mehdudia to become its first CEO since Sharif Rangnekar stepped into the chairman role last year.

Mehdudia, a career journalist, has spent more than 25 years covering politics and the corporate sector. He joined Integral PR last year as an advisor, focusing on building content and networks for the agency.

After serving as Integral CEO for more than a decade, Rangekar turned over day-to-day leadership to the firm's presidents Aseem Bhargava and Adhish Mehrotra last year. Both have recently departed Integral.

Rangnekar confirmed the hire, and told the Holmes Report that Mehdudia's content experience was particularly relevant for the agency's development. "Content is as important to our business as relationships and networks."

Mehdudia spent 17 years with The Hindu and two years as business editor at  Amar Ujala. In addition to this, he also worked for seven years with the United News of India newswire.

Integral grew its revenues marginally in 2015, although in USD terms they were down by around 5%, thanks to the currency effects of a weaker Indian rupee.