Speaker Biographies
Keynote
Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Deputy Chairman
The Planning Commission, Government of India
Montek Singh Ahluwalia (born on November 24, 1943) is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission for India. He has been a key figure in India’s economic reforms from the early 1980s onwards. He joined the Government of India in 1979 as Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance after which he held a series of positions including Special Secretary to the Prime Minister; Commerce Secretary; Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs; Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; a Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister; Member of the Planning Commission in New Delhi. Between 1968 and 1979 he held various positions in the World Bank Research Department. He was the first Director of the Independent Evaluation Office of the International Monitory Fund, a position he took up in 2001 resigning in 2004 to take up his current position.
A prolific writer on various strategic aspects of economics, he has been making valuable contribution to a number of prominent Indian and international journals and books. He co-authored ‘Re-distribution with Growth: An Approach to Policy’, published in 1975, and in 2004 he write ‘Reforming the Global Financial Architecture’, Economic Paper No.41, Commonwealth Secretariat, London.
He earned his B.A. (Hons) degree in New Delhi and his M.A. and M.Phil. Degrees from the University of Oxford where he was a Rhodes Scholar. His published works include papers in various professional journals and several contributions to books. Mr. Ahluwalia is married to Isher Judge Ahluwalia and they have two children.
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Senior Industry Professionals
Deepak Amitabh
Director - Finance & CFO
Power Trading Corporation
Shri Deepak Amitabh is Director (Finance) & CFO at PTC India Limited (PTC) as a full-time Director in PTC & PTC India Financial Services Ltd. He has more than 25 years of experience in auditing, financial analysis, revenue mobilization and coordination, including time spent as a Commissioner of Income-Tax with the Indian Revenue Service.
At PTC he has led the company’s IPO and a series of QIP offerings, as well as creating, in partnership with Goldman Sachs and Macquarie, PTC Financial Services (PFS), a non-banking finance company for the power sector. Most recently, in a joint venture with Ashmore Group, he was instrumental in setting up an asset management company to be focused on the Indian energy sector and currently engaged in raising India’s First Energy Fund.
Shri Amitabh is closely involved in the structuring of Long Term Power Purchase and Sale Agreements for PTC, as well as spearheading the fuel linkages services being developed by PTC for various Independent Power Producers.
Before joining PTC, he worked as Financial Advisor to Director General Naval Projects, Mumbai and has also held the post of Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, New Delhi and Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, Mumbai. He belonged to Indian Revenue Service, before being absorbed in PTC.
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Varun Bajpai
SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Management Private Limited
CEO
Professional Qualifications
MBA, Institute of Management, Kolkata
Bachelor of Engineering, BIT, Mesra
Background
Varun joined the Macquarie Group as Managing Director and headed the Indian
advisory team within Macquarie Capital Advisers, where he was focused on M&A
and financing transactions across key sectors including Resources, TMET,
Industrials and now Infrastructure. He has advised many of India’s large
business houses and clients on a range of transactions, including cross-border
acquisitions. Varun is the Chief Executive Officer of SBI Macquarie
Infrastructure Management Private Limited (SMIMPL) and heads the Fund team in
India.
Varun’s experience covers corporate financial advisory work, M&A and Financing transactions, including:
- Spearheading Tata Power’s acquisition of a strategic equity stake in PT KPC and PT Arutmin (June 2007) in a deal worth $US1.1 billion.
- Leading the principal investment by Macquarie Bank in Idea Cellular.
- Leading the equity linked (convertible bonds) and equity raising transactions for large Indian clients such as Reliance Energy, Bharti Televentures, Tata Chemicals, etc.
- Advising British Petroleum in potentially acquiring a stake in Hindustan Petroleum as part of the Government of India’s privatisation program.
- Advising Birla Group companies on domestic acquisitions in the metals and mining space as well as in the cement sector.
- Advising Hutchison on its India entry strategy, including the formation of joint ventures with local partners and acquisition of telecom licenses.
- Advising on AT&T’s stake sale in Idea Cellular.
- Advising Reliance Infocomm on its acquisition of FLAG Telecom in the US.
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Rangarajan Balajee
COO
Auro Mira Energy, Chennai
Rangarajan Balajee is the Chief Operating Officer of Auro Mira Energy (AME), Chennai and is responsible for resource planning for all the 3 verticals of business namely Biomass, Hydel and Wind apart from other functions. In the last 12 months, he has successfully raised debt of over ` 10,300mn with impressive DER. Prior to joining AME in April, 2008, he was Senior Vice President of a renewable energy IPP for over 13 years. He has worked in FMCG mnc, Travel Infrastructure and NBFC in his total industry experience of 27 years. Widely known in the wind energy industry in India.
He was member of the advisory panel of CII Southern Region on infrastructure form 2005 to 2008 and member of the Tariff Advisory Committee of Indian Wind Power Producers Association, Karnataka Chapter from 1998 to 2007. He was also member of the prestigious USAID-SAARC Panel on Renewable Energy, November, 2009 and was also panel speaker at USAID ECO-Asia Clean Development July, 2010.
Balajee is Graduate from Faculty of Commerce; Post Graduate in Business Management and Associate of Institute of Cost and Executive Accountants, London. He has also travelled extensively in India, Far East, Middle East, and Europe
He has keen passion for wild life conservation and hope to be actively involved after exiting the industry. He has written few articles on investment related topics in leading journals and also on renewable energy industry.
Married to Sudha Balajee and has son studying in 12th class.
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Ranajit Banerjee
Director-Project & Export Finance
Standard Chartered Bank
Ranajit is a Director in the Project and Export Finance Group of Standard Chartered Bank, India. At the bank he leads deal teams in Power, Oil & Gas and Transportation sectors. He has been involved in key deals of the bank in these sectors. Prior to SCB Ranajit was with ICICI Bank where he led deals in the upstream and downstream Oil & Gas sectors. Before that he was with the Corporate Finance team of PwC where he carried out several mandates for M&A, valuations and appraisals in the energy sector (Power, Upstream and Downstream Oil & Gas). He has also worked extensively on framing PPP policy for regional state governments.
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Harsh Agrawal
Vice President, Infrastructure Fund
Morgan Stanley
Speaker bio coming soon
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Alok Bhargava
Director
IL&FS Waste Management & Urban Services Limited
Mr Bhargava is currently a Director of IL&FS Waste Management & Urban Services Limited, a subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), in the Waste Management sector. He has over twenty five years of experience in investment banking, private equity and related financial services. Over the last fifteen years with the IL&FS Group, he has had a variety of job portfolios encompassing, project development, private equity, project finance, financial structuring and business development across various sectors. Prior to his current assignment, Mr Bhargava was the Executive Director of IL&FS Investment Managers Limited from January 2008 – July 2010; and Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of IL&FS Education & Technology Services Limited from August 2000 – March 2007. Mr Bhargava was a member of the IL&FS team that was instrumental in creating India’s first infrastructure-focused fund. Prior to joining IL&FS, Mr Bhargava worked at Emerson Electric Company, where he focused on business planning. Mr Bhargava also previously worked at 20th Century Finance Corporation.
Mr Bhargava received a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (India) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (India).
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Alwyn Keith Bowden
CEO
Essar Projects Business Group
Mr. Alwyn Bowden is CEO – Essar Projects Business Group.
With a rich experience of over 29 years in the field of Infrastructure and Projects, Mr. Bowden joined Essar from Sembawang Engineers and Constructors Pvt. Ltd where he was President and CEO.
At Essar, Mr. Bowden heads the entire management of Projects Business Group, a business which is one of India's largest full-service Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) providers.
Mr. Bowden started his career with the G. Wimpey PLC where he spent close to 17 years handling International Heavy Infrastructure and Process Projects, rising to Project Director.
Following his time at Wimpey he joined Simon-Carves Ltd in the UK and soon becoming Managing Director and Executive Director for Operations.
Moving on in 2003 to Sembcorp Engineers & Constructors (SEC) Singapore as COO, Mr. Bowden ran a number of special initiatives such as securing the master plan for the construction of the Fushun Petrochemicals Complex in China.
He joined Sembawang Engineers as their President and CEO in 2006 and played a key role in rebuilding operations for the Group.
Characterized as a visionary leader, skilled in driving initiatives to build organizational infrastructure in dynamic global environment Mr. Bowden prefers to lead by example and has extensive experience in working with diverse cultural backgrounds.
Mr. Bowden received his Civil Engineering from Swansea University (UK).
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Amulya Charan
Managing Director
Tata Power Trading Co Ltd
Mr. Amulya Charan has an overall working experience of 39 years in various industries, ranging from consumer goods, international marketing, joint venture promotion, automotive components, information technology, telecom and power sectors. He has been with the Tata Group since 1996 and currently, is the Managing Director of Tata Power Trading Company Ltd. Mr. Charan is closely associated with power sector companies for twenty years, having worked with NTPC, Power Grid and Tata Power Co. He is also a Director on the Board of many other Tata Companies. He has participated in several International / Asian Conferences. He received his B.E. in Mech. Engineering from the University of Roorkee, India in 1969 and Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration in 1971 from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. He has also undergone specialized training programmes in W.Germany in 1977, U.K. in 1989, US in 2007 & attended two workshops organized by the World Bank in 1985 & 1994 In March 2005, he attended the Energy APAC Conference in Beijing. He has attended several international Conferences and Seminars and made presentations on various aspects of energy markets.
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Tejpreet S. Chopra
President & CEO
Bharat Light & Power
Tejpreet S. Chopra is the Founder, and President & CEO of Bharat Light & Power. Bharat Light & Power is a clean power generation company utilizing a variety of advanced technologies.
Tejpreet’s 18 years of global management and finance experience was gained in various business roles held in France, England, Hong Kong, India and USA, of which over 14 years were at General Electric.
Until recently, Tejpreet was the President and CEO of General Electric in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and was responsible for directing GE's strategies for growth in these countries. During his tenure, GE India, which employs over 14,000 people, grew significantly.
Prior to that, Tejpreet served as President & CEO of GE Commercial Finance in India, where he successfully restructured and expanded the business thereby establishing GE Commercial Finance as one of the premier financial institutions in India.
Since joining GE in 1996, he has held positions in marketing, structured finance and risk management, in Stamford and Hong Kong for GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS). In 2005, he moved from the unit's headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, to open GECAS’s office in Delhi. As Senior Vice-President and Country Head-India for GECAS, Tejpreet arranged over US$1 billion in financing for India's growing airline industry.
Tejpreet is involved in various industry associations. He was a member of the National Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in India (AMCHAM), and the Board of Directors of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC). He is a participant of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and the Cornell University Council. He is also an Aspen Institute Fellow, a part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders. Tejpreet has also spoken at a number of international conferences, including Asia Society’s CEO Forum Series in New York and LA, the Economist’s India Business Summit in London, the Wharton India Economic Forum, and the Harvard Business School India Conference. In 2008, he was named by Business Today as one of “India’s Hottest Young Executives”.
He graduated from The Lawrence School, Sanawar. Tejpreet holds a MBA degree from Cornell University and a B.A. Honors degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University.
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Kalpesh Gada
Head - Structured Finance Products
ICRA Mumbai
Kalpesh Gada is Head of Structured Finance Ratings at ICRA, the Indian associate of Moody’s Investors Service. In the present function, Kalpesh is responsible for execution of structured finance rating assignments, development of rating methodology, and managing client relationships. He has worked on securitization ratings involving various asset categories including vehicle loans, home loans, unsecured personal loans, small business loans, as well as corporate loans.
Kalpesh has been with ICRA since December 1999 and he initially worked on corporate rating assignments in various sectors.
Prior to this, Kalpesh worked with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the apex financial institution for promotion, development and financing of small-scale units in India. His role at SIDBI involved credit analysis and portfolio monitoring for factoring and bills financing businesses.
Kalpesh holds a Bachelors degree in Commerce and a Masters in Business Administration both from Mumbai University.
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Shubhashis Gangopadhyay
Research Director
India Development Foundation
Shubhashis Gangopadhyay is Managing Trustee and Research Director of India Development Foundation. Till December 2008, he was Advisor to the Finance Minister, Government of India, and was the youngest ever Secretary in the government. He got his PhD in Economics from Cornell University, USA, in 1983, his Bachelor’s degree from Presidency College, Kolkata in 1978 and did his schooling in Calcutta Boys’ School. He joined the Indian Statistical Institute as a lecturer in 1983 and was promoted to full professor in 1991. He took over as founder-director of IDF, an independent research organization, in 2002. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, in October 2006.
Currently, he is the Chief Editor of the Journal of Emerging Market Finance (Sage Publications), and an associate editor of the Journal of Financial Stability (Elsevier). He is a member of the South Asia Chief Economist’s Advisory Council of the World Bank. He is also the founder-President of the Society for the Promotion of Game Theory and its Applications. He has published widely in international journals, and has a number of books, in economics and finance.
He has served on the Board of the Industrial Reconstruction Bank of India (IRBI) and as a member of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Advisory Group on Bankruptcy Law. He has been a consultant to the Ministries of Finance, Planning, Industry, Rural Development, etc. He has led important government research projects like the leading indicator of economic activity, the impact of steel de-control on SAIL and the use of the Hajira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur gas pipe-line. As a member of the PSFT Task Force on the plantation sector, he has developed a new financial instrument for reducing the impact of price volatility on plantation growers.
He has worked closely with industry both in India and abroad. He has lectured widely to foreign industry delegations coming to India, attended their world meets as a resource person and has held closed-door, one-on-one discussions with their management teams.
He has a rich experience of advising students at the PhD level and has a number of students both in India and abroad.
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Sujata Gupta
Head, Private Sector Group - India Resident Mission
Asian Development Bank
Sujata Gupta is the Head of Private Sector, India Resident Mission, Asian Development Bank (ADB). Earlier she was the Senior Economist with the Private Sector Operations Department at ADB. Sujata has a Ph.D. from the London Business School, University of London and has done her post-graduation from the University of Delhi. Prior to joining ADB she was the Director of the Policy Analysis Division of TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), New Delhi. She has over 20 years of experience in energy, infrastructure and climate change and has developed and managed projects in these areas in India, Indonesia, Philippines, Bhutan and Cambodia. She represents the private sector in ADB’s Clean Energy Working Group, which has a target of reaching annual investments of $1.5 billion in clean energy projects by 2013. Sujata was the coordinating lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). From 2002 to 2005 she was a member of United Nations (UNFCCC) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Methodologies Panel and evaluated methodologies to determine the carbon credits from CDM projects.
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Philip Jackson
Managing Director, Asian Infrastructure Group
JP Morgan
Philip Jackson, Managing Director, is Chief Executive of J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Asia Infrastructure Investments. Philip has 29 years experience in corporate finance as an asset manager, banker and originally as a lawyer in the City of London. Since 1981 he has been heavily involved with energy and infrastructure projects and companies including power, water and gas, rail, toll roads and tunnels. He has been based in Asia since 1993. In that time he has advised on industry restructurings and government privatizations in 10 countries and has been involved in asset valuations, acquisitions and divestments of infrastructure assets throughout Asia both at the greenfield and operating levels, for publicly listed and privately owned companies. Philip is a member of JPMAM’s Asian Business Management Committee and JPMAM's Global Real Assets Management Committee. Philip read law at Cambridge University.
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Ajit Krishnan
Infrastructure & Real Estate Sector Leader
Partner, Tax & Regulatory Services
Ernst & Young
Ajit is the Industry Leader for the Infrastructure & Real Estate sectors and a Partner in Tax & Regulatory Services practice with Ernst & Young. He joined the firm in 2003, and is based in the Gurgaon office.
He specializes in direct business tax issues and Double Tax Avoidance Agreements between India and other countries. He also specializes on regulatory issues impacting investment in Indian real estate / infrastructure sector including exchange control regulations. His core competence lies in investment and transaction structuring for the real estate and infrastructure sectors.
Ajit has advised on fund structures for investments in the real-estate sector; listing of Business Trusts in Singapore stock exchange with underlying investments in Indian real estate assets and; the formation of joint ventures with global partners.
He has also been very active in advising large corporations finance expansion plans through internal restructuring and hiving off of non-core assets, as well as advising entrepreneurs on tax planning issues. He has also advised and assisted clients in successfully seeking dispute resolution under the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement.
Ajit has been a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India since 1998.
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Krishna Kumar
Managing Partner, Head of Infrastructure
IL&FS Investment Managers Limited
Mr Krishna Kumar is the Managing Partner at IL&FS Investment Managers Limited (IIML), heading the Infrastructure vertical, and also the Co-CEO of Standard Chartered IL&FS Asia Infrastructure Growth Fund – a US$ 660 mn Asian Infrastructure Fund, jointly managed by IL&FS and Standard Chartered Bank. He has over 18 years of financial services and infrastructure investment experience. Over the last 15 years, Mr Kumar has managed private equity funds that have invested in assets across a variety of infrastructure sectors. Mr Kumar was a key member of the team that made investments in Max Telecom (now Vodafone), Pipavav Port, Ramky Infrastructure, DEN Networks and Ramky Enviro Engineers. Prior to joining IIML, Mr Kumar was with Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), a leading financial services institution with a focus on infrastructure development, as Manager in their Asset Management division, and was one of the founding members of the IL&FS private equity practice. Prior to IL&FS, Mr Kumar was with Kotak Mahindra Finance Limited and Synergy Credit Corporation Limited.
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Pawan Maini
Senior Industry Specialist
Infrastructure Investments and Public Private Partnership Transaction Advisory
IFC, World Bank Group
Dr Pawan Maini is with IFC as a Senior Industry Specialist (Infrastructure Investments and Public Private Partnership Transaction Advisory). He focuses on both the technical and financial aspects of Infrastructure investment projects globally (including Airports, Ports, Roads, Airlines, Shipping lines, Logistics) and on Public Private Partnership Transaction Advisory projects in South Asia. At IFC he has been involved on projects in China, Indonesia, Kuwait, Jordan, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and India, and is part of the IFC team currently advising on the Vizhinjam Port project and the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions Expressway (Andhra Pradesh). Pawan has 20 years experience as a consulting civil engineer with a specialism in the transport sector. Prior to joining IFC he worked in India for 7 years and in the US for 12 years (for both the public and private sectors).
Pawan has an Executive MBA from the London Business School, a PhD in Transportation Engineering from University of Colorado, Denver, a MS in Construction Engineering and Management from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, and a BTech in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai.
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Brijesh Mehra
Country Corporate & Investment Bank Head, India
The Royal Bank of Scotland, N.V.
Brijesh has 24 plus years of banking experience across a varied spectrum and is currently Country Corporate & Investment Bank Head, India in The Royal Bank of Scotland, N.V.
He started his career with ANZ Grindlays Bank plc and since then he has worked in Corporate & Investment banking in Singapore, Indonesia and all the four metros in India.
Staring Jan 2008, within the RBS group he is responsible for all client coverage and origination within the Global Banking and Markets Division of the bank responsible for client management of all clients of the Division
He has been involved in a variety of transactions in the wholesale banking space across the Corporate Finance, Debt & Structured debt and Transaction banking. Under his leadership, the franchise has won several awards in 2007 including IFR Loan House of the Year, been in the top 5 in league tables across Equity and, Debt markets
He is an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and is married with two children.
Special interests include golf and business reading.
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Rajiv Ranjan Mishra
Managing Director
CLP India
Mr. Mishra is responsible for asset management and business development of CLP's investments in India. He joined the CLP Group in 2002 and has over 15 years' experience in the power industry, both in India and internationally, mostly involved in project financing, investment appraisal, finance and accounting and general management. Before joining CLP Power International in 2002, Mr. Mishra was Finance Director of PowerGen plc's Indian operations and on joining CLP became the Project Finance Manager responsible for the financing of the BLCP power project in Thailand, and continued as BLCP's Deputy Managing Director/Chief Financial Officer until July 2004. He was previously Finance Director of a PowerGen joint-venture in Seoul, Korea and assumed his current role of Managing Director India in July 2005. He holds a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering (first class distinction) and a MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.
Mr. Mishra is the Managing Director of Gujarat Paguthan Energy Corporation Private Ltd. And a Director of other subsidiary companies of the CLP Group, including China Light (Mauritius) Ltd., CLP Power Projects II, CLP Power (GPEC) Ltd., Mangalore Power Company and CLP Power India Private Ltd.
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Keshav Misra
Head of Capital Allocation & Investment Management
Baring Private Equity Partners India
Keshav is the Head of Capital Allocation & Investment Management at Baring India. He is a Director on the Board of several portfolio companies like Auromira Energy, Integra Software Services, Molecular Connections, Maples ESM and Sphaera Pharma where he assists senior management in defining and executing their inorganic growth strategy as well as in implementing strong systems and processes for financial risk management. He brings several years of capital markets experience in India and abroad to assist portfolio companies in generating superior returns from surplus resources and in optimal monetization of value. He also leads the Fast Moving Consumer Goods vertical within Barings, identifying new investment opportunities in this core sector of the economy. Prior to Barings Keshav managed Proprietary funds and also worked for Pioneer Asset Management in Boston where he was responsible for investments across sectors. Keshav is a graduate from University of San Diego (Deans List) and a former top ranked golfer in the country and has won several National and International tournaments while representing the country.
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S. Nandakumar
Sr. Director, Global Infrastructure & Project Finance
Fitch Ratings India
S. Nandakumar is senior director in Fitch Ratings India’s Global Infrastructure & Project Finance group (GIG) and is responsible for the national ratings assigned to infrastructure projects in India across asset classes - transportation, energy and urban infrastructure. Besides, he regularly attends international rating committees of the infrastructure group in the Asia-Pacific region. He is also a member of the rating committee of Fitch Ratings India.
Prior to joining Fitch, Nandakumar had worked with KPMG and with SBI Capital Markets.
Nandakumar graduated in Commerce from the Osmania University in Hyderabad and received his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
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Dinesh Pillai
CEO
Mahindra Special Services Group
Dinesh Pillai is the CEO of Mahindra Special Services Group (MSSG) a leading corporate risk management consulting firm that helps organizations reduce risk and enhance competitive advantage. He has been with Mahindra SSG since its inception in 2004, and was responsible for running the operations and overseeing implementation of client projects across all service lines.
Dinesh was instrumental in setting up the physical security consulting practice in MSSG and designed and delivered physical and environmental security solutions to a large number of clients.
Dinesh Pillai is a certified BS 7799 Lead Auditor and has played a prominent role in getting various organizations certified in ISO27001 standard of Information Security.
He has attended the executive program at ISB and the executive programme in Business Leadership at Harvard Business School Institute in 2009-10.
A postgraduate in Electronic Engineering, Dinesh comes with rich industry experience spanning 17 years in areas such as Information security audit and implementation, physical security engineering, business process controls, enterprise solutions like ERP, Level III & Level IV process control automation software’s & Information Security Audit & Implementation.
He started his career with the Tata Group and worked with the Mukund Group before joining Mahindra & Mahindra.
He has shared his expertise at several national and international conferences on information security and addressed key security challenges faced by the corporate and government sector.
Some of the recent conferences where he was invited as the key note speaker include:
- The FICCI Science and Technology Homeland Security Conference, Delhi on 29 July 2010. FICCI in association with Mahindra SSG as its Knowledge Partner hosted the Science and Technology Homeland Security Conference in Delhi. Mr. Dinesh Pillai, gave the keynote address on Public-Private Partnership to strengthen homeland security
- The AEASN Oil and Gas Tech Conference in Malaysia on 23 July 2010.
- The 2nd Annual Food Tech Safety and Innovation Summit in Singapore on 14 July 2010.
- The IDRC Risk Reduction and Disaster Management Summit in Davos on 2 June 2010.
- The Confederation of Indian Industry and USIB Indo-US Business Summit in Atlanta, Georgia on 10-11 May 2010. He spoke at the special session on “BPO, KPO and value added services”.
- The Frost and Sullivan Growth and Innovation Leadership Summit in London on 18 May 2010.
- The Defence IQPC Conference on Corporate Security Summit in India in Mumbai on 22-23 June 2010.
- The CII Innovation Conclave 2010 in Delhi on 14 June 2010.
- The CII BANKing TECH Summit 2010 in Mumbai on 24 February 2010.
- The CII International Conference on Securing Cities for economic prosperity and growth in Mumbai 26 November 2009. Mahindra SSG was the Knowledge Partners for the CII and Euro India conference.
- The Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Mahindra SSG launched the Corporate Risk Management Lecture Series in Mumbai inviting the senior management to discuss corporate risks. Mr. Dinesh Pillai inaugurated the series with his presentation on “Information Warfare: Implications for Corporate Security” on 22 January 2010.
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C Babu Rajeev
CEO
ABG Kandla Container Terminal
Born in May 1947, Mr. Babu Rajeev was a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).He retired from the IAS in November 2007 as Secretary to the Government of India and thereafter joined ABG Infralogistcs Limited as CEO in December 2007, which position he still continues.
During his long career in the IAS (1973-2007), he held various important assignments in the State and Central Government. These include:
Position Duration
Secretary to Government of India
& Addl Secretary to the Government 2004-2007
Development Commissioner Govt of Assam 202-2004
Managing Director 1999-2002
Cochin International Airport Limited
Chairman, Cochin Port Trust 1993-1999
Finance Secretary, Government of Assam 1991-1993
Director, Ministry of Finance. Government
of India 1985-1991
Mr. Babu Rajeev is a post graduate from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He also holds a Masters in Development Studies from the University of Manchester and Advanced PG Diploma in public administration from the Indian Institute of Public Administration.
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Goutham Reddy
Director - Strategic Planning
Ramky Group
Key Technical Qualifications
1. M.S. in Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
2. B.Tech – Civil Engineering, Nagarjuna University, Andhra Pradesh, India
3. Training and Exposure to Civil, Environmental and Waste Management in various
countries.
Professional Experience
Mr. Reddy is a US returned Environmental Engineer and has been working with
Ramky Group since Aug 2001, with active participation in the Real Estate, Waste
Management, Civil infrastructure development and associated businesses. Mr.
Reddy has vast experience in Property Development brings in Environmental
attributes to the real estate sector. Mr. Reddy has the credit and distinction
of being a part of establishing and operating India’s first integrated hazardous
waste and medical waste management facilities. He has grown within the group and
currently working as group level resource in strategic planning and growth.
Currently working as Director - Strategic Planning for Ramky Group.
Earlier worked as Scientist at Environment Protection Training and Research Institute and has been associated with various environmental projects with specific focus on solid waste management.
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Pronab Sen
Principal Adviser
The Planning Commission, Government of India
Born 1952 in New Delhi, India. Received B.A.(Hons) in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi (1972); M.B.A. (1974) and M.A. in Economics (1975) from the George Washington University, Washington D.C.; and Ph.D. in Economics (1982) from the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Specialised in Open-economy Macroeconomic Systems, International Economics and Public Finance.
Worked as management consultant in Washington D.C. (1974-1977). Taught at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore and Delhi School of Economics, Delhi between 1977 and 1983. Turned to pure research in economics at the Indian Council for Research in International Economic Relations, New Delhi (1983-1987) and the Economic Research Unit, New Delhi (1987-1990). Worked at the World Institute for Development Economics Research, Helsinki in 1986 and again in 1989. Joined the Government of India as Economic Adviser, Department of Electronics (1990-1994). Moved to the Planning Commission, Government of India in 1994, and as Adviser/Principal Adviser, Perspective Planning and Statistics & Surveys, was principal author and coordinator of (a) the Mid-term Appraisal of the Eighth Five Year Plan, (b) the Ninth Five Year Plan, (c) the Mid-term Appraisal of the Ninth Five Year Plan, (d) the Tenth Five Year Plan, and the Mid-term Appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan. Appointed as the first Chief Statistician of India, the functional and technical Head of the national statistical system in India in 2007. Also appointed Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Government of India (2007-2010). Moved back to Planning Commission, Government of India, in 2010 as Principal Adviser, Power and Energy.
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Pranjal Sharma
Executive Editor
Bloomberg-UTV
In his 19-year career as an economic journalist, Pranjal Sharma has been involved with print, web and television news. He has previously worked with Indian Express, India Today and Business Today. And with news networks like Network 18 and TV Today. He has presented, produced and directed business news shows in English and Hindi. At TV Today he led a team that created pioneering economic and business news shows for hindi-speaking audiences.
This was the first big effort by a major network to present business news in Hindi.
Pranjal has a Bachelors degree in economics from Delhi University and a Post Graduate diploma in media from the Times Centre for Media Studies, Delhi. As a Chevening scholar he has also taken a mid-career course in media from the University of Westminster, London. Pranjal is a Fellow of European thinktank Salzburg Global Seminar and member of the Global Advisory Council for India at the World Economic Forum. At the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Pranjal is on the student selection panel and also visiting faculty.
He has been a recipient of the News Television Award 2007 for Best Business Show and Best Business News Anchor. Pranjal was part of the core team that launched UTVi Business news channel. It has been been relaunched as Bloomberg UTV.
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JN Singh
Board Member (Finance)
National Highway Authority of India
Dr. J.N. Singh, an IAS Officer from the 1983 Batch, has a rich and varied educational background, having done Masters in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, a Management Masters from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines and a Ph. D in Political Economy from the M.S. University, Vadodara.
During his service at the State Government level in Gujarat, he has held a variety of field posting relating to Revenue Administration and Law & Order. In the industrial arena, he has worked in very senior capacities in Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation, Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd, Gujarat Industries Power Company Ltd and in Gujarat Electricity Board. Along with other colleagues, he has made a stellar contribution to the industrial growth of Gujarat. He is known for his positive and industry-friendly approach. He was also Secretary Information Technology, Government of Gujarat.
At the Central Government level, he worked as Textile Commissioner and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Textiles. During his tenure, the textile industry experienced a significant turn-around from the recessionary trends and underwent massive modernization. He also made major initiatives in skill development in textile. He led several official Indian delegations to multilateral and international negotiations and meetings for getting better markets and policy support for the Indian textile and apparels.
Since February 2010, he is serving as Member (Finance) in the National Highways Authority of India where his major responsibility is the financial oversight and coordination of the entire National Highways Development Program and arranging for finances for this massive nation-building endeavor.
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M.K. Sinha
President & CEO
IDFC Project Equity Company Limited
M.K. Sinha is an investment professional with over 20 years of experience. He is currently President & CEO of IDFC Project Equity Company Limited that manages the US$ 927 MM “India Infrastructure Fund.” His earlier role at IDFC between 2005-2007 was as an ‘Executive Director’ with responsibility for Business Development & Project Finance.
Prior to joining IDFC, he worked with the General Electric Company in the Structured Finance Group for over 10 years across US, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. Before that, he worked with Bank of America and SBI Capital Markets in Corporate Finance and Investment Banking areas respectively.
M.K. Sinha holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a B.Tech (Hons.) in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
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S.G.Shyam Sundar
Managing Director
IDFC Private Equity
Shyam has over 14 years of experience in the Indian infrastructure sector. He began his career as an investment banker with ICICI Securities (ICICI’s investment banking JV with JP Morgan) handling private equity placement, debt syndication and M&A related deals in the energy and telecom sectors. Subsequently, he moved to the Infrastructure group of ICICI Bank and after that to Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC), to undertake project finance activities in the telecom sector. He joined IDFC Private Equity in its formative days and has made over 11 investments in a range of infrastructure sectors – power, telecom, oil&gas, roads, ports, airports, shipping and logistics. He was a member of CII National Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Committee of Bombay Chamber of Commerce. Shyam received an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta, and a BE (Mechanical) from Anna University, Chennai. Shyam is married and has a 4 year old daughter. He is an avid cricket fan and opens the bowling for IDFC’s cricket team at local tournaments.
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Raman Uberoi
Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings
CRISIL Limited
Raman Uberoi is Senior Director – Ratings, CRISIL Limited. CRISIL is India's leading ratings, research, risk and policyadvisory company and a subsidiary of Standard & Poor's.
Raman joined CRISIL in 1992 and was appointed the head of the Ratings business for CRISIL in 2007. Heading the CRISIL Ratings group, Raman is responsible for formulating business strategies, managing client relationships, and ensuring quality and consistency of ratings. Raman is responsible for rating entities in the manufacturing, infrastructure, financial, SME and structured finance sectors. As member of CRISIL’s rating committee, Raman is closely involved in benchmarking entities on key risk parameters and assigning ratings to these entities.
Exposure to emerging capital markets globally has also contributed to his robust knowledge base. He is the member of the Committee on Securitisation constituted by SEBI.
Raman is an associate member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
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Nandita Nagpal Vohra
Senior Consultant
Asian Development Bank
Nandita has over 15 years of experience in investing, investment banking, policy and financial advisory in the infrastructure space. She consults with the Asian Development Bank and has advised The World Bank and Larsen & Toubro Infrastructure Finance on structuring and financing of infrastructure projects.
Nandita has worked with Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Feedback Ventures Private Limited and CRISIL Limited. Nandita was part of the Investment Management team at Feedback First Urban Infrastructure Fund. She has worked on projects across roads, urban infrastructure and water supply being developed by leading private sector infrastructure players in the country. She understands issues related to viability, bid, negotiation, award, contract, finance, implementation, operation and exit from infrastructure projects. She worked on the first public issue of bonds of a Municipal Corporation (Ahmedabad), first public issue of bonds for an Infrastructure Company (Noida Toll Bridge Company Limited).
Currently, she is working on the infrastructure development initiative of ADB along with Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance to mainstream public private partnerships in the country. Nandita is an alumnus of Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University.
