Board of Directors

Mr. Saroj Kumar Poddar (DIN: 00008654), Chairman of the Company, a gold medalist in B. Com (Hons) from Calcutta University, is the Chairman of Adventz group with a turnover of about USD 3 Billion. The group under the leadership of Mr. Poddar, has promoted various seminal projects including joint ventures with leading international corporations. The most notable of these ventures are Hettich India Private Ltd (a joint venture with the Hettich Group of Germany), Texmaco UGL Rail Private Ltd. (a joint venture with the United Group of Australia) and MCA Phosphates Pte. Ltd. (a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan). Mr. Poddar was also instrumental in promoting Gillette India Limited (a venture with the Gillette Company of U.S.A), and he was founder Chairman since 1984 before relinquishing the position in December 2013.

A recipient of the Rashtriya Samman from the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Mr. Poddar is a keen collector of contemporary Indian art and involved in the promotion and development of art, culture and sports. Mr. Poddar and his family promote young cricketers to go abroad for training and practice. They are currently involved in setting up a museum in Delhi with the theme ‘India through the ages’. The museum will be named as ‘K. K. Birla Academy’ in the fond memory of Late Dr. K.K. Birla. The Project will be fully funded by the family and is to be commissioned in the coming years.

Having served as President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and International Chamber of Commerce in India, Mr. Poddar has been appointed by Government of India on Board of Trade - the highest body on trade - and on the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Mr. Poddar has also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur for a decade and also on local Board of the Reserve Bank of India for similar tenure. He was also on the Advisory Board of one of the most reputed investment brokers, M/s N M Rothschild & Sons (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Mr Poddar is the Chairman of India-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council and a Member of the Indo-French CEO Forum.

Mr. Shyam S. Bhartia (DIN: 00010484) is the Chairman of M/s. Jubilant Pharmova Limited. He is a Commerce graduate and a fellow member of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India. A leading industrialist of India, he has rich industrial experience in the Pharmaceuticals, Specialty Chemicals, Food, Oil and Gas (Exploration & Production), Aerospace and Information Technology sectors. He is a director on the boards of numerous companies both in India and overseas.

His past association to institutional segment included – Member of Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and Director on the Board of Air India.

Mr. Chandra Shekhar Nopany (DIN: 00014587) is an industrialist having vast industrial experience in diverse fields like sugar, finance, textiles and fertilisers. He is a Chartered Accountant and Master of Science in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, U.S.A. He leads as a new generation entrepreneur with concerted focus on efficiency and growth. He is former President of Indian Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata and Indian Sugar Mills Association.

Mr. Abhay Baijal (DIN: 01588087) holds bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Delhi College of Engineering and post graduate diploma in management (specialization in Finance & Marketing) from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata. Mr. Abhay Baijal joined the Company in the year 2003. He took over as Managing Director in July 2023. He has experience of more than four decades in the industry, in the areas of finance, accounts, business restructuring and project financing. Mr. Abhay Baijal was instrumental in the growth trajectory of the Company, and in particular, setting up the Gadepan - III plant.

Mr. Vivek Mehra (DIN: 00101328) is a commerce graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi and a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Mr. Mehra has a consulting experience of over 38 years in tax and regulatory aspects of mergers and acquisitions focusing on cross border investment and transaction structuring. He has held various leadership and client servicing roles in PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. before his retirement in March 2017. Mr. Mehra was a Director on the Board of Union Bank of India and Punjab & Sind Bank. He was also member of Steering Committee and National Executive Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Mr. Pradeep Banerjee (DIN: 02985965) has about four decades of experience in customer service, manufacturing, marketing, logistics, procurement and R&D in Unilever group in India, Nepal, Singapore and the United Kingdom. He served as an Executive Director on the Board of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) for almost a decade. He was also Managing Director and then the Chairman of a joint venture of HUL in Nepal.

Mr. Banerjee is Senior Advisor to Boston Consulting Group, an Operating Partner in Advent Private Equity and is on the Board of a few companies. He is also a Designated Partner in Pradeep Banerjee Associates LLP.

Mr. Banerjee holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Mrs. Rita Menon (DIN: 00064714) is M.A (Economics) from Delhi School of Economics. She joined the Indian Administrative Service in the year 1975 and held a number of senior positions in the Government of India and the Government of Uttar Pradesh. She retired in the year 2015 from the position of Chairperson and Managing Director of India Trade Promotion Organisation. In her career in public service, she had worked in various departments/ ministries of Government of India such as Secretary in Ministry of Textiles, Additional Secretary and Special Secretary in Ministry of Finance, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Defence, etc. She was also Director of various public sector undertakings. Mrs. Rita Menon has vast experience in the areas of industrial development, finance, defence planning and procurement, public policy & administration, etc.

Dr. Rakesh Jain (DIN: 00020425) is B. Tech (Chemical) from Punjab University, Chandigarh and M. Tech (Polymer) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur. He also has a PhD. (Polymer) from University of Akron. He has more than 37 years of experience in business portfolio optimization & value creation, multi-sector operational excellence & strategic turnarounds, global manufacturing & supply chain transformation, digital transformation & business process re-engineering, corporate strategy, government & private sector advisory and lean six sigma & quality management.

He started his career in the year 1988 with GE Group and held multiple roles in the areas of technology, marketing, manufacturing & product management. Later, he was associated with the Aditya Birla Group for 11 years during 2003 to 2014, in various leadership roles. He is currently on the Board of Vardhman Special Steels Limited and Managing Partner of Arjuna Advisory Services LLP.