Mr. M. S. Unnikrishnan (Unny) is the CEO of IITB-Monash Research Academy, a research institute dedicated to a PhD program in cutting-edge technologies and management, jointly promoted by IIT Bombay and the Monash University of Australia. He has previously held the position of M.D. & CEO of Thermax Group for over 13 years and played a pivotal role in the growth, professionalisation and globalisation of the company.

He serves on the Board of KEC International. He is also a trustee of “Akshaya Patra”, the largest NGO of India that feeds 19 Lakhs/day underprivileged school children, and Jehangir Hospital, Pune.

Mr. Unnikrishnan chairs the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), Durgapur, and is a member of the Governing Councils of TERI and Army Institute of Technology.

He is also associated with the Government of India as:

• Co-Chairperson of “Srijan” program for SIDBI-TIFAC for start-up funding
• Member, Apex Council, Prime Minister’s Doctoral Research Fellowship
• Director of the Technology Innovation Hub, IIT Palakkad
• Expert committee member, SAIF Centres, Ministry of Science & Tech, GOI
• Expert committee member, SATHI program, Ministry of Science & Tech, GOI

A graduate in Mechanical Engineering from VNIT, Nagpur, he has also completed his Advanced Management Program from the Harvard Business School, Boston, USA. He continues to be a keen student of energy, environment, and management.

Mr. Shrinivas Dempo is Chairman of the Goa-based Dempo Group of Companies, which has diversified interests in industries such as calcined petroleum coke, shipbuilding, food processing, real estate and newspaper publishing. He has been Chairman of the western region of the largest industry lobby in India, the Confederation of Indian Industry. In 2013, Mr. Dempo was named Honorary Vice Consul of Italy in Goa, India. He was appointed Chairman (Independent Director) of Automobile Corporation of Goa Ltd., a Tata Group Company.

Mr. Dempo has a long association with football, having patronised a premier football club. He was named among the 50 most influential people in Indian sports in the 2010 Sports Illustrated Power list as President and Chairman of Dempo Sports Club.

Mr. Dempo is on the Executive Council of Goa University, besides being associated with a number of non-governmental organisations performing yeoman service to society such as the Charles Correa Foundation and also as President of the Goa Cancer Society.

He continues his multi-generational engagement with Goan society, which covers institutions and programmes of higher education, cultural enrichment, environmental conservation, sporting excellence and affirmative action, under the Dempo Charities Trust and Vasantrao Dempo Education & Research Foundation. He was elected President of AIMA on September 22, 2022. He has also been elected as President of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry with effect from July, 2023.

In his capacity as Chairman of the prominent petroleum coke manufacturing listed company – Goa Carbon Ltd., Mr. Dempo was honoured in the year 2014 with the Asia Pacific Outstanding Entrepreneurship Award India 2014 in recognition of his pursuit of responsible business practices by the Asia-wide organisation, Enterprise Asia, dedicated to management development and ethical business.

Mr. Dempo earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Mumbai in 1990 and 1992 respectively. He later took a Master of Science degree in Industrial Administration & Finance from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA in 1995 and in 2019 he was elected as a member on their Board of Trustees. In 2020 he received the Tepper Achievement Award, in recognition of his influential roles as Chairman and Managing Director of the Dempo Group and in professional associations and civic organisations in India.

Currently he is on the Board of Dempo Sports Club Private Limited, Dempo Shipbuilding And Engineering Private Limited, V. S. Dempo Holdings Private Limited, Automobile Corporation of Goa Limited, V.S. Dempo Mining Corporation Private Limited, Hindustan Foods Limited, Dempo Industries Private Limited, Goa Carbon Limited, West Coast Hotels Private Limited, Marmagoa Shipping And Stevedoring Company Private Limited, Motown Trading Pvt. Ltd., Dempo Global Corporation Pte. Ltd. and Motown Global Corporation Pte. Ltd. and is also acting as a designated partner in Esmeralda International Exports Limited LLP, Devashri Nirman LLP, Challengers Table Tennis Club LLP and Dempo Biz Nest LLP and as individual partner in Argent Trading LLP.

Mr. Shobinder Duggal is an Independent Director of our Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics (Hons.) from St. Stephens College, Delhi University and is a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He has completed the International General Management program for executive development from the International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland. He has several years of financial experience and in the past has held positions at Nestle as well as Voltas India Limited. While he was the Chief Financial Officer at Nestle India Limited, he was presented with the Best MNC CFO award at the Best CFO Awards 2012 by Business Today and Business India. He has also been recognised as one of India’s Best Finance and Tech Leaders in the Yes Bank - Business World Best CFO Awards in 2018. Earlier, he served as a member on the boards of Nestle India Limited and Nestle Lanka PLC and is presently on the boards of SBI Life Insurance Company Limited, Sanofi Consumer Healthcare India Limited and P I Industries Limited.

Ms. Ramni Nirula retired as Senior General Manager of ICICI Bank Limited. She has more than 4 decades of experience in the financial services sector, beginning her career with the erstwhile ICICI Limited in the project appraisal division. Since then, she has held various leadership positions in areas of Project Financing, Strategy, Planning & Resources and Corporate Banking. She was part of the top management team instrumental in transforming ICICI Bank from a term lending institution into a technology led diversified financial services group with a strong presence in India’s retail financial services market. She was also part of the top-level task force, which successfully planned and implemented ICICI Bank’s entry in the Rural Banking, Microfinance & Agriculture Business group, identified by the Bank as a key thrust area. Ms. Nirula also held key position as Managing Director & CEO of ICICI Securities Limited, the Investment Banking arm of ICICI Bank Limited. She also headed the Corporate Banking Group for ICICI Bank.

In addition, she was also responsible for setting up the Government Banking / Corporate Agri Group based out of New Delhi within the bank. Ms. Nirula helped to set up / take forward I-Banks’ CSR initiative through the ICICI Foundation set up with a focus on delivery of primary health, primary education and access to finance.

Ms. Nirula has been a member of the Board of many ICICI Group and associate companies i.e. ICICI Securities Limited, ICICI Direct and 3i Infotech. Additionally, she has been a member of Board of leading companies in India. Ms. Nirula has also been on the Board of non-corporates like a leading residential school for girls, a Micro Finance Institution in India and Advisory Council Member of ICICI Knowledge Park Trust. In addition to the Corporate Boards, Ms. Nirula was on the India Advisory Board of a Boston based global PE fund for advising on investment opportunities in India and supporting investee companies in their biz growth.

Ms. Nirula holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economic and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Delhi University. Currently, Ms. Nirula is on the Boards of DCM Shriram Limited, HEG Limited and Usha Martin Limited.

Mr. Vivek Pendharkar is a Technology Executive based in Silicon Valley for 30+ years with experience spanning Fortune 500 companies as well as Early-Stage Venture backed start-ups and CEO positions for the past 15 years, delivering complete life-cycle from Series-A financings, building teams, establishing Product-Market fit, revenue ramp and successful M&A/exits.

He has worked in successive breakthrough technologies emerging out of Silicon Valley starting with Microprocessors, Systems, Software, Internet, Video, Wireless, Cloud and Data technologies. He has extensive international experience with customers, partners and teams across Europe, Asia-Pacific/Japan, and Americas. Currently, he is on the Advisory Board & Mentoring for technology companies/Founders in Enterprise Software, Security and Digital Health markets.

He has done SEP, Business Administration from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, MSEE, Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech. BS Electrical Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani.

Ms. Rekha Sethi is the Director General of the All-India Management Association (AIMA), the apex body for management in India. Ms. Sethi took charge of AIMA in June 2008. She has since established AIMA as the preferred platform for discussion and debate on management and has deepened AIMA’s relationship with the Government of India and India Inc. AIMA now attracts India’s top industry leaders and policy makers on its platform.

Ms. Sethi is on the Boards of some leading Indian companies as an Independent Director including CESC, one of India’s foremost Power generation and distribution companies and the flagship company in the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. She is also on the Board of Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd. – a diversified global manufacturing specialist and one of the world’s largest and fastest growing automotive supplier for OEMs, with 340 plants across 42 countries. She is on the Board of Spencer’s Retail Ltd. – one of India’s leading retailers and also on the Board of Hero Steels Limited manufacturing steel products and Firstsource Solutions Limited.

She has earlier served on the Board of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, world’s fourth-largest specialty generic pharmaceutical company and India’s top pharmaceutical company and on the Boards of Sun Pharma Laboratories Ltd and Sun Pharma Distributors Ltd. She represents AIMA on the Governing Council of the National Productivity Council, an autonomous organisation of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

Prior to joining AIMA, Ms. Sethi worked with India’s premier industry organisation, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for over 17 years. There she led the initiative to create high-profile international events to promote India’s economic interests. She started her career with the Center for Development of Telematics (C-DoT). Ms. Sethi is an alumnus of St. Stephens College, Delhi University.

Mr. Vinayak Deshpande, is a graduate in Chemical Engineering (1980) from IIT, Kharagpur. He has over 42 years of experience, largely in 2 domains; industrial automation, software, advanced controls and Level 4 MES, Optimisation (Honeywell), and large infrastructure projects spanning Telecom, Power Generation, Refinery & Petrochem, Minerals & Metals, Urban Infrastructure with metros, bridges and airports.

In the last 22 years, he has occupied Chief Executive Officer (CXO) positions starting as Managing Director at Tata Honeywell in 2000, then at Tata Teleservices, HCC and Tata Projects. He possesses deep experience in business management, strategy & new business formulation, investment analysis and implementation of large, nation building projects, and HR and talent development.

He has been extensively engaged in design, engineering & innovation, business process re-engineering, corporate quality and business excellence management and has been a long-term member of Tata Innovation forum, TAS recruitment panel, and a Mentor in TBEM (Tata Business Excellence Model), a Tata Group-wide excellence platform.

Mr. Deshpande presently serves on the Boards of Kennametal India Ltd., Voltas Ltd., Universal MEP Projects & Engineering Services Ltd., Praj Industries Limited, and Signify Innovations India Ltd.(Chairman). He is Chairman of Nomination & Remuneration Committee and also a member of Audit & Risk Committee of Kennametal India Ltd. He is Chairman of Safety Committee and Member of Project Risk Committee of Voltas Ltd.

He is also Chairman for Structural Engineering Research Council of the CSIR, Government of India. Until recently, he was Co-Chair for CII – Construction Committee. He has also served as Chairman, Pune Metro, Line 3, a Tata-Siemens JV in PPP Format.