Focused on governance

Keshub Mahindra, Chairman Emeritus of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, is a graduate from Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, USA. After joining Mahindra in 1947, he became the Chairman in 1963.

He is a well-known philanthropist who has redefined good corporate governance in India. He has been appointed by the Government of India to serve on many committees including the Sachar Commission on Company Law & MRTP and the Central Advisory Council of Industries. In 1987, he was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur by the French Government. From 2004 to 2010, Keshub was a Member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry, New Delhi.

Keshub is a member of the Apex Advisory Council of ASSOCHAM and is the President Emeritus of the Employers’ Federation of India. He is an Honorary Fellow of the All India Management Association, New Delhi and a member of the Council of the United World Colleges (International) in the United Kingdom.

He has also served on several boards and councils in both the private and public domain, including SAIL, Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels, IFC and ICICI. He was also the Founder Chairman of HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited); Vice-Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd; Chairman of Mahindra Ugine Steel Co. Ltd; Director of Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co. Ltd and Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited.

Mr. Anand Mahindra is the Chairman of the US $20.7 billion Mahindra Group. His tenure has seen the Group expand domestically and internationally into a range of major industrial sectors from automobiles and agriculture to IT and aerospace. The Group has also grown inorganically through acquisitions such as Ssangyong Motors, Reva Electric Car Company, Satyam Computer Services, Peugeot Motorcycles, Gippsland Aeronautics, Aerostaff Australia, Holiday Club Resorts, and Pininfarina S.p.A. An incisive business commentator and humanitarian with over 6 million followers on Twitter, Mr. Mahindra also initiated the Nanhi Kali programme, which, for the last two decades, has provided over 330,000 under-privileged girls access to high quality education.

Vikram joined the Board in May 2012. He serves as the Chairman of the Shell Group of Companies in India, a position he’s held since 1994. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics (Hons.) from St. Stephens College, Delhi University, a Master's degree in Politics & Economics (Hons.) from Magdalen College, Oxford University, and a Master's Degree in Energy Economics from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

MM Murugappan, joined the Board of in 1992. He is currently Chairman of Carborundum Universal, Tube Investments of India, and Wendt India. A member of the Supervisory Board of the Murugappa Group, MM Murugappan is an expert in technology and research strategies. He belongs to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Plastics & Rubber Institute. He also serves on the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. MM Murugappan received his Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering from the University of Madras, India. He attended the University of Michigan, USA for his Master of Science in Chemical Engineering. He likes to spend his free time on the golf course, is an avid reader, and enjoys classical music and the theater. He lives in Chennai with his wife. They have two sons.

Vishakha, joined the Board in May 2012. She is President and CEO of the Asia Society, a leading global organization committed to strengthening partnerships among the people, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States. Dr. Desai holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Mumbai, and an MA and PhD in Asian Art History from the University of Michigan.

Dr Pawan Goenka earned his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT, Kanpur and PhD from Cornell University, USA. He is also a Graduate of the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School.

Prior to joining Mahindra, he had worked with General Motors’ R&D Centre in Detroit, from 1979 to 1993. Thereafter, he was appointed as General Manager (R&D) in Mahindra. During his R&D tenure, he led the development of the Scorpio – India's first indigenously built SUV. He was appointed COO (Automotive Sector) in April 2003, President (Automotive Sector) in September 2005, President (Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors) in April 2010, Executive Director and Group President (AFS) in April 2015, and Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, in November 2016. He is also on the board of several Mahindra Group Companies, including Mahindra Racing, where he serves as Chairman of the Board.

Pawan has been honoured with numerous awards during his illustrious career. He received the Extraordinary Accomplishment Award from General Motors in 1986, the Burt L. Newkirk Award for the year 1987, the Charles L. McCuen Achievement Award from General Motors for the years 1985 and 1991, an Outstanding International Advisor Award from SAE in 1997, and a Distinguished Alumni Award from IIT, Kanpur in 2004. He received the Engineering Excellence Award 2012 from SAE India Foundation. He is a Fellow of SAE International and of The Indian National Academy of Engineers.

Pawan has been awarded the 2016 FISITA Medal of Honour, which is bestowed for his ‘particularly distinguished achievement and leadership in the global automotive industry’ and is the first Indian to receive this prestigious recognition. He is currently a National Council Member of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), and Chairman of its Manufacturing Council. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of I.I.T., Madras.

Nadir, joined the Board in 1992. He is currently the Managing Director of Godrej Industries, India’s leading manufacturer of oleochemicals, edible oils, vanaspati, and bakery fats. Today, Nadir serves on the Boards of several companies including Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra), Indian Hotels Company, and several Godrej Group companies. Nadir is a member of the Advisory Committees of the Indian Chemical Manufacturers' Association, and a trustee of the Foundation of Medical Research, Mumbai. He has also served as President of the Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers' Association of India, the Oil Technologists' Association of India, and the Protein Food & Nutrition Development Association. Currently President of the Alliance Francaise de Bombay, Nadir has received the Ordre National du Mérite and the Ordre National De La Légion D’Honneur from the Government of France for his achievements. Nadir earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston. He attended Stanford University for his Masters in Chemical Engineering and received his MBA from Harvard University as a George F. Baker Scholar. Nadir lives in Mumbai with his wife, Dr. Rati Godrej. They have three sons. In 1991, he wrote a collection of poems in English and French titled “Life and Other Poems”. 

Mr. TN Manoharan is a law graduate and a fellow member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He also holds a Masters degree in Commerce. He is a Non-Executive Chairman on the Board of Canara Bank, an Independent Director on the Board of Directors of Tech Mahindra Limited and was nominated by the Government of India to the Board of Satyam Computer Services Limited where he made significant contribution towards the revival of the erstwhile Mahindra Satyam within a short span of time.

Mr. Manoharan has also served as the President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India ("ICAI") during 2006-07, and as Chairman of Accounting Research Foundation of ICAI & National Committee on Accounting Standards of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He was on the Board of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority ("IRDA") during 2006-07 and on the Committees constituted by Reserve Bank of India ("RBI"), Securities and Exchange Board of India ("SEBI"), Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Comptroller and Auditor General of India ("C&AG") and Central Board of Direct Taxes ("CBDT") during 2006-07.

Mr. Manoharan at present is the Chairman of the National Committee on Accounting Standards and Taxation of the Confederation of Indian Industry. He is a Member of the Appellate Authority, and of the working group constituted by International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB") for making recommendations on "IFRS for SMEs". He is also a Member of the Governing Council for Skill Development in BFSI Sector since September, 2016.

Mr. Manoharan has received the "Business Leadership Award" from NDTV Profit and the CNN IBN "Indian of the Year 2009".

Shri Vijay Kumar Sharma superannuated as Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India on 31^st December, 2018. Prior to his taking over as Chairman on 16^th December 2016, he served as Chairman (In charge) from 16^th September, 2016 and Managing Director, Life Insurance Corporation of India from 1^st November, 2013. From December 2010 to November 2013, he served as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, LIC Housing Finance Limited (LICHFL), a premiere housing finance company in the country.

Shri Vijay Kumar Sharma, born on 19^th December, 1958 is a post-graduate from Patna University. Shri Sharma joined Life Insurance Corporation of India as Direct Recruit Officer in 1981 and grew up with the Corporation since then. He held various challenging assignments pan India and in all operational streams including in-charge positions at different levels. Working across length and breadth of the country has added immensely to his experience and honed his understanding of demographics of the country, socio-economic needs of different regions and multi-cultural challenges in implementation of Corporate's objectives.

As MD & CEO of LIC HFL, he stabilized the operations of the company under most challenging circumstances of negative media glare, intense scrutiny by Regulator & others and turned it around to be the best Housing Finance Company in 2011.

He has been an inspirational leader who utilizes negotiation skills gained over thirty seven years of extensive experience in insurance and financial sectors and strongly connects to the grass root levels, believes in bottom-up approach and has the ability to see the Big Picture and translate it to reality. He is known as Growth Leader, leading the Organisation to surge ahead and turnaround on its growth path in all the segments of performance.

Shri Vijay Kumar Sharma was Chairman, Board of Directors of LIC Housing Finance Ltd, LIC (International) Bahrain B S C ©, Life Insurance Corporation Singapore Pte. Ltd. and other companies. He was also Director on Board of Kenindia Assurance Co. Ltd.

Currently he is on Board of ACC Limited, ICICI Bank Limited, Tata Steel Ltd. & Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

Mr. Haigreve Khaitan has done his LL.B. from South Kolkata Law College. Mr. Haigreve Khaitan is a Partner of Khaitan & Co. Haigreve started his career in litigation and over the years has been involved in many M&A and private equity transactions, as well as project finance transactions. He has rich experience in all aspects of M&A – due diligence, structuring, documentation involving listed companies, cross-border transactions, medium and small businesses etc., Restructuring – such as advice and documentation involving creditors restructuring, sick companies, de-mergers, spin-offs, sale of assets etc., Foreign Investment, Joint Ventures and Foreign Collaborations. He advises a range of large Indian conglomerates and multinational clients in various business sectors including infrastructure, power, telecom, automobiles, steel, software and information technology, retail, etc.

Ms. Shikha Sharma holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM, Ahmedabad, a Post Graduate Diploma in Software Technology from National Center for Software Technology and a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics. Shikha was the Managing Director & CEO of Axis Bank, India's third largest private sector bank, from June, 2009 to December 2018. During her tenure as Managing Director & CEO, Axis Bank witnessed immense growth in the network, market capitalisation and in consumer lending business, and transformed Axis Bank into a digital leader in mobile banking and digital payments.