Mr. Dhanendra Kumar joined IAS in 1968. He was the First Chairman of the Competition Commission of India (2009-11). During this period, he set up the country’s market regulator and started the enforcement regulations from May 2009. Combinations and review of M&A were initiated from June 2011.
Earlier, he was India’s Executive Director on the Board of World Bank, Washington DC representing India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & Bhutan. At Central level, he was Secretary to Govt in several key Ministries, including Defense Production, Road Transport and Highways, and Culture and responsible for several major policy initiatives and implementation. His term as Additional Secretary in Ministry of Telecom (1998-2002) witnessed the migration policy & explosion of cellular telephony, internet, etc. He is currently the Founder Chairman of Competition Advisory Services (I) LLP, a strategic consultancy firm in Competition Law (www.compad.in) and Policies, and active on global lecture circuit. He writes frequently on contemporary issues.
Dr. Juneja has been the former Chairman and CEO of the National Small Industries Corporation. Dr. Juneja has a unique experience in the public & private sector managements and has worked for SME development, policy formulation & advocacy, institutional capacity building & restructuring and entrepreneurship development for over three decades.
Promoting investments and joint ventures from India to Mauritius and Botswana, Dr. Juneja has served as a Advisor & Consultant to the Governments of Egypt, UAE (Dubai), Kenya, Sri Lanka and several other countries of Asia & Africa, United Nations organizations, Commonwealth Secretariat etc.
He has also served as the Past President of All India Management Association.
An MBA from the University of Oregon, USA, Dr. Juneja was conferred Doctoral Degree by the University of Bombay in Applied Economics (1989). He has been a Visiting Professor to the University of Rhode Island, USA and Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.
Dr. J.S Juneja has been actively promoting investments to a number of countries particularly in Africa, while facilitating FDIs, joint ventures and technology transfer and has assisted in setting up more than 300 small manufacturing enterprises in Asia and Africa.
Dr Aruna Sharma an Indian Administrative Officer of 1982 batch Madhya Pradesh Cadre retired after her work as Secretary Steel and Information Technology in government of India. She has always focused to have holistic approach and establish system in all her postings for ensuring sustainable quality outcomes. She has books reaching the Last Beneficiary: Resource Convergence Mantra Model (2008) and Impact of Recourse Convergence in Policy Making, Mainstreaming of Resource Convergence in Policy Making Program Design and Execution (2014) released by UNDP. FAO has also published her work on food security. Her latest work is the book U@Game Changer for Inclusive Growth for public representatives. Her article on “The Samagra anti‐poverty programme in Madhya Pradesh: Integrating household data, overcoming silo‐problems and leaving nobody behind “ is published in electronic version and in print will come in April 2021 in Development Policy Review. Her new book Dancing Towards the $5 Trillion Economy on Holistic Beat.
As Secretary Steel, drafted and successfully executed Steel Policy and preferential procurement policy. The GFR amendment set the trend to enhance domestic demand and key to revival of sector. Logistic improvements were planned and envisaged by getting ‘right of way policy’ from Railways for slurry pipelines and maximum usage of Sagarmala routes....
Parveen Arora is presently Advisor and Head, National Council of Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) Division, Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, Government of India. He holds a Ph.D. in Science Policy from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.
As a national expert on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) indicators spearheaded the national STI surveys and brought out several National S&T publications periodically such as R&D Statistics, R&D in Industry etc. for evidence-based S&T Policy Planning. He has been instrumental in conceptualization and evolution of the first ever national Innovation Survey and also in bringing out the National Innovation Survey report on ‘Understanding of Innovation: Indian Context. He has been closely associated with international bodies such as UNESCO, OECD and other member countries in developing guidelines and benchmarking for STI indicators. He is also on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Scientometric Research and ASCI Journal of Management.
Of late, he has been associated with the conceptualization and formulation of Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) guidelines and draft SRIMAN Policy on scientific infrastructure for implementation across S&T Institutions in the country.
Presently, under the NCSTC programme, Parveen Arora is engaged with communicating and popularizing S&T, stimulating scientific temper and building networks towards coordinating and facilitating such initiatives in the country and abroad...
Prahlad Kakar founded Genesis Film Production Pvt. Ltd. in 1977 and virtually re invented
regional television advertising, after having assisted Shyam Benegal, one of India’s most
renowned filmmakers. In 2011, he co founded, India SME Forum, as a premier Institution for
Small and Medium enterprises.
In 1999, He was one of the few Indian Directors to direct international commercials for clients
like Unilever and Pepsico in Burma, Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Asia Pacific
Region. Prahlad has won several awards for technical excellence, Innovation and creativity in
advertising over the years in India. In 2000 he received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement
Award from IAAFA for his contribution to Advertising and Film Art.
He took on the initiative of reviving the culture of tea in India with a touch of sophistication, a
venture which culminated in the Tea Centre, a restaurant designed by him at Churchgate, in
association with the Tea Board of India. In 1985, he started a Gourmet Restaurant at the Prithvi
Theater, Bombay with Jennifer Kendal Kapoor. In 2001, he started Casa Amore, an exclusive
wine bar and restaurant. Prahlad has also created Papa Pancho with designer Mamta Sekhri. It
is one of the few places in Mumbai that offers traditional, home-cooked Punjabi food. “Sarson
da Saaga", Bombay's first " Slow food, Punjabi- home style cooking" was also opened by him at
IMAX in March 2002.
Prahlad also runs 'Lacadives', India's premier scuba-diving school, along with his wife Mitali
Kakar at Kadmat Island, in collaboration with the Govt. of Lakshadweep.
Prior to appointment as DMD in 2013 in SIDBI, Mr. Bajalia was the Executive Director of IDBI Bank and also served on the board of SIDBI as IDBI's nominee Director since 2009
He started his banking career in 1974 at Bank of India and joined IDBI in 1983. During his 38 year tenure in India's foremost development funding institution, IDBI Bank, he played a significant role in
the formation of the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) vertical in IDBI in 2008 and has handled varied portfolios including corporate and retail finance, recovery and NPA management, restructuring
and human resource management. In corporate banking he has handled infra projects, paper, textile, engineering, mining industry.
Mr. Bajalia He is a Member of Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India. Mr. Bajalia holds a Bachelor Degree in Arts from CAIIB and is a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers.
He served as a Member of the Committee constituted by Reserve Bank of India for restructuring of cases with exposure less than Rs.100 million.
Ajay is a professional with more than two decades of experience in capital markets.
He joined BSE Ltd in December, 1996 as Head – Arbitration and Business Development. He has developed the derivatives
segment of BSE Ltd and also actively involved in opening of regional centers across the country. Presently as Head -
BSE SME, responsible for the development of this segment of BSE Ltd. He very successfully launched the SME Platform
on 13th and thus BSE Ltd became the first Exchange to launch the Platform. Today BSE Ltd is the market leader in this
segment with 92% market share. Within a few years this platform has 300 companies listed and another 100+ companies are
to be listed. The success of this platform has brought a lot of enthusiasm in the market and more and more companies and
market intermediaries are coming forward to get the companies listed on this platform.
Professor (Dr.) V. K. Ahuja holds Ph.D. and LL.M. Degrees from University of Delhi and M.Phil. Degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He has done a Certificate Course on Law Teaching and Legal research Skills from Cardiff Law School, Cardiff University, United Kingdom. Professor Ahuja is presently Vice-Chancellor of National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam. He is also serving as Joint Director of Delhi School of Public Policy and Governance, established under Institute of Eminence (IOE), University of Delhi. He also served as Professor In-charge of Law Centre-II, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, Delhi (2017-2020). He has 28 years of teaching and research experience at Post Graduate and Masters level. His areas of interest are Intellectual Property Rights and International Law.
He completed a Research Project on the topic “State Practice on Implementation of International Law in India: An Analytical Study of Constitutional Provisions and Case Laws”. He has also been appointed as Member of the UGC Committee to Frame Guidelines for Introduction of Courses on Law for Holistic and Multidisciplinary Education in 2022
He is a Member of Board of Management, Judicial Academy, Assam; Governing Body of CLAT Consortium; and Governing Council of DSNLU Vishakhapatnam. He was also Member of Governing Body of Hindu College and Aryabhatta College of University of Delhi. He delivered lectures at Delhi Judicial Academy and Jharkhand Judicial Academy, Ranchi. He also delivered lectures at World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), UGC Refresher Programs and Orientation Programs. He was invited as Chief Guest and Guest of Honour by many Law Schools and Universities. He also Chaired Sessions, delivered Keynote Addresses and presented papers in many National and International Seminars and Conferences.
Hemendra Mathur is a Venture Partner at Bharat Innovation Fund. He has about 18 years of experience in private equity, management consulting, investment banking and private equity. Prior to his working at SEAF, Hemendra has worked with Yes Bank, Rabo India Finance (a 100 percent subsidiary of Rabobank International), KSA Technopak, and ORG MARG (now part of The Nielsen Company). He also is closely associated with many incubation, mentoring and angel networks.
Hemendra has over 23 years of experience in venture capital, private equity, management consulting and investment banking industry in India, South Asia, Europe and USA., with about 10 years of experience in early-stage and growth capital investing.
Hemendra has raised a private equity fund earlier and managed a portfolio of mid- sized companies in the food supply chain and has 12 years of management consulting and investment banking experience in the food, agribusiness, retail and consumer goods industry for corporates as well as the Government of India / state governments.
Sangram is a Banking professional with over two decades of experience. In the current role he
manages the Commercial Banking segment for Axis Bank. The Commercial Banking Group is targeted
towards servicing the banking requirements of the SME customers, across various lines of products,
including Working Capital Lending, Deposits, Trade and Forex products.
Sangram has previously held other roles in the Axis Bank and its Subsidiaries; Firstly as Head – Cards
& Payments business and later as MD & CEO of Freecharge (a fintech Subsidiary of Axis Bank).
He also had brief stint in a fintech startup (Indifi Technologies) which was solving for offering
working capital lending to Self Employed and Micro business.
Prior to joining Axis Bank in 2014, Sangram had worked for nearly a decade in Citibank India and
before that in GE Capital India.
Sangram is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta from the class of 1999.
Mr Ashish Kumar Shah is an Executive Vice President and Credit Head (Mid Corporate and Commercial Banking) at Axis Bank. He has done PGDBM and a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering. He started his professional career at Tata Chemicals and was with Bharat Electronics Ltd for two years. He worked in various departments such as Venture Capital, Rehabilitation Finance and Project Appraisal at IDBI Ltd for thirteen and a half years. He joined Axis Bank in 2007 as Head of Project Advisory before moving to Corporate Credit. He has extensive experience in project advisory debt arrangement for projects, infrastructure financing, mid corporates and SME lending along with Capital Markets.
Extremely passionate about creating meaningful impact on businesses through technology, Nitin is on a mission to help businesses drive Digital Transformation using the power of the internet leveraging his 2 decades in the tech industry working with leaders like Oracle, IBM, Intel and Verisign.
In his previous avatar as Head of Business Development for Asia Pacific he grew the region for Verisign exponentially, engaging ecosystem players which included telecom carriers, e/m-commerce companies, thought leaders, digital media, PR, industry associations & governments to pilot out services, build new revenue streams and chart out a sustainable strategic road map for growth while helping bridge the divide between offline and online commerce.
His last role was as the VP for APAC & EMEA regions for an AI enabled SaaS start up enabling customer acquisition, engagement and monetization for ecommerce clients.
In his spare time, Nitin advises start-ups, helping them fine tune their GTM. He is a mentor at IvyCamp ( www.ivycamp.in), an IvyCap Ventures platform & a mentor at the Atal Innovation Mission (www.aim.gov.in , under NITI Aayog, Govt of India) helping foster innovation in schools and colleges.
Entrepreneurial & passionate in spirit, he is extremely keen to talk to anyone with a good business idea and is presently spending time on penning his thoughts on the secret sauce for fostering a culture of innovation & trust in organizations.
Starting his career in international collaborations and projects, Vinod has been at the nerve centre of various successful Joint Ventures and Collaborations in Electronics, Telecom, Media & Publishing, Industrial & Consumer Electronics, Hospitality and Finance, with Multinational corporations entering India through the FDI route. He then went on to head one of India's big 4, IT Consulting companies, as its MD, before starting out as a technology entrepreneur to lead the development of a patent and business on navigation and geographic information system, which he subsequently sold to a Russian Space & GIS Conglomerate.
As a Serial Investor and part of an international consortium invested in Sustainable Development, he presently invests in profitable, innovative, Small and Medium Companies. Vinod leads his investor group in Risk Profiling, Assessing Growth Potential and deciding on Investment for Seed and Venture Financing to SMEs in innovative, sustainable and disruptive businesses, apart from overseeing and leading extensive research and analysis of linkages, growth potential and market factors of SMEs involved in over 29 clusters across 11 Sectors including Food Processing, Dairy, Leather, Pharma, Engineering and Automotive in 19 Indian states.
Vinod, currently serves as the Honorary President at the India SME Forum, apart from advising various governments and International institutions for strategizing and dealing with current issues and future challenges of Sustainable Livelihoods & Economic Empowerment.
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Being an Entrepreneur herself, her wide travels, made Sushma explore and study the state and options for Small and Medium Business in India. Her own difficulties and social experiences as an Entrepreneur in India, made her feel a strong urge to help create an ecosystem to enable and aid the employment generating small and medium business owners, especially women. As part of her commitment and vision, Sushma, oversaw the formation of the India SME Forum along with the present Founder Trustees of India SME Forum. She is personally involved as the Director General, in some of its outreach and knowledge sharing activities. Sushma lead a team of analysts and experts in creating a unique evaluation format, for the India SME 100 Awards, created specifically to score and rate SMEs across the length and breadth of the country on a single scale. Sushma has lead the team of researchers in conducting India& ;s largest MSME survey - State of the SME for the India SME forum which surveyed 3,30,000 MSMEs across 29 states, 371 clusters and 6000+ product lines, on the Entrepreneurial and Financial ecosystem, State of their Business & ; Use of Technology. A report based on the survey was shared with various State Governments, Policy makers, Institutions and various Ministries along with our analysis and recommendations. Sushma passionately works for Small and Medium Entrepreneurs as the Founder Director General at the India SME Forum, apart from advising various government agencies and institutions to strategize and deals with current issues and future challenges. ...