Sabharwal (pictured) was previously executive director and associate partner at Ernst & Young, where he was involved in business, technology and transaction consulting within the government and public services division.

Prior to that, Sabharwal was head of central government for Tata Consultancy Services. He will be based in New Delhi in his new role.

Kantar Public India supports national and regional government, non-governmental organisations and the private sector to develop public policy across a range of development areas, such as health, education, agriculture, market systems and gender equality.

Dr Michelle Harrison, global chief executive of Kantar Public, said: “Gaurav’s appointment signals our ongoing commitment to building Kantar Public as the world class evidence and consulting public policy offer for our clients in South Asia.

“He marries deep subject matter expertise across a broad range of policy sectors, including rural development and agriculture, housing, transport, health and education with a leadership perspective on digital transformation, analytics, mobile, blockchain and cloud computing.”