Advisory Board

Dr. Malay Mahadevia is Group HR Director and Whole Time Director (WTD) of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd, Adani Group.

He has been working with the Adani Group since 1992. He is involved in Ports & Logistics, Railways, Healthcare & Medical Education,   Infrastructure Engineering & Management Education and Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives of the group.

Arvind, is a graduate (B.Com. Hons) from Shriram College of Commerce, Delhi University and has a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM, Ahmedabad. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of India and has attended management development programmes of Michigan Business School and Harvard Business School.

He had more than 38 years’ experience in management consulting & industry. His management consulting experience has included more than 22 years as partner with AF Ferguson & Co, Price WaterhouseCoopers, IBM Global Business Services and most recently with KPMG. His industry experience was with Procter and Gamble in financial management and management reporting.

In his career at KPMG India (2006-2016) he has lead the management consulting services and later the energy, infrastructure, government and healthcare practices of the firm. He also had the privilege of being member of KPMG's Global Management Consulting and Global Infrastructure sector Leadership teams. On retirement from KPMG, he set-up Samiksha Advisors LLP (August 2016), a strategy and board advisory firm, of which he is Managing Partner.

His specialization is in advising CEOs & Boards in area of business strategy & helping "make strategy happen" through growth & transformation initiatives. He has also has strong background in corporate finance, enterprise risk management & people and change. He has advised clients in a diversified portfolio sectors including consumer, industrial, technology, telecom, financial services, energy, infrastructure & government. His clients have included some of India’s leading business groups and MNCs as well as government organizations including PSUs.

He has strong understanding of technology including disruptive trends. While at IBM, he has lead technology strategy and the communication sector vertical. He has also been member of KPMG’s Global Think Tank, which was involved in identifying disruptive trends and developing the long term strategy for the firm. He was also Innovation Leader for KPMG Advisory.

He understand MNCs well, having worked for P&G and IBM, as well as having advised more than 25 transnational firms on market entry and strategy related assignments into India and internationally.

He was elected by the partners as the Senior Independent Director (lead director) on the KPMG India Board and also served as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and member of the Nomination Committee for nearly 4 years. He helped to revamp the corporate governance framework of the firm and select the new Board of Directors and Nomination Committee. After retirement from KPMG, he has recently joined the Boards of Force Motors Limited and HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company.

He is regular speaker in Industry forums and widely quoted in both print and broadcast media. He has been member of CII and FICCI’s various National Advisory Councils. He also been visiting faculty at management schools including IIM, Ahmedabad and SP Jain Institute of Management & Research.

At a personal level, he has had the privilege of being part of the founding group and advisory board of IIMPACT (www.iimpact.org), an inspiring initiative which provides 60,000 girls in 1100 of the poorest villages of India free primary education. He has also been member of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)’s Consumer Complaints Council and part of the Advisory Board of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation.

Dr. Raghuram is currently the Director of IIM, Bangalore and he has been a faculty at IIM Ahmedabad since 1985. He was Dean (Faculty), IIMA from September 2013 to December 2015. He was the Vice-Chancellor of the Indian Maritime University from July 2012 to March 2013. He was the Indian Railways Chair Professor from January 2008 to August 2010. Currently, he is Professor and Chairperson of the Public Systems Group at IIMA.

He specializes in infrastructure and transport systems, and logistics and supply chain management. He conducts research on the railway, port, shipping, aviation and road sectors. He has published over 35 refereed papers in journals and written over 155 case studies. He has published six co-authored books. He was awarded (i) ‘MC Puri Memorial Award’ for Contribution to Operational Research in India, 2016 (ii) ‘Academician of the Year’ by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in 2012 and (iii) ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for contribution to logistics and infrastructure by EXIM News in 2014. He is a Fellow of the Operational Research Society of India, and Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. He has teaching experience at universities in India, USA, Canada, Yugoslavia, Singapore, Tanzania and UAE.

He is a member of the Global Future Council on Mobility of the World Economic Forum, Executive Council of the National Aviation University, and of the Board of Directors of six companies in the fields of infrastructure, logistics and education. Overall, he has been on the Board of 12 companies. He has offered consultancy services to over 100 organizations including multilateral agencies. He has served on various government policy making and advisory committees for the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Shipping, Cabinet Secretariat, Comptroller and Auditor General, the Planning Commission and various State Governments.

Raghuram has a BTech degree from IIT, Madras; a postgraduate diploma in management from IIM, Ahmedabad; and a PhD from Northwestern University, USA.

Suren is the Managing Director of BMT Consultants India. Educated in India and the UK, he is a UK Chartered Engineer and Environmental Manager.  He has been in engineering consultancy since 1984. With 13 years of experience in the UK and remaining in India, he has led major infrastructure projects including a large number of port and marine projects. His experience includes being a Project Director for over 220 marine consultancy assignments in India and abroad.

A Chartered Accountant with 40 years of work experience in diverse groups (Adani Group, Sanghi Group, SM Group, Tatas, Indu Nissan), Devang Desai has rich knowledge of Finance & Commerce and has valuable insights in business models covering structures and processes.

Mr Desai has been extensively involved in conceptualizing ventures, managing large resource mobilization programs, initiating process improvements and nurturing alliances.

His career in finance covers varied areas of Finance Operations (Shared Services, FP&A), Treasury (Project, Working Capital & Structured Finance, Fx Management), Assurance Services (Internal Audit, Insurance & GRC) and Investor Relations.

He has been with the Adani Group for over 20 years.

Graduate - Marine Engineering College, Calcutta, India.
BSc, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
MSc, Shipping and Ship Building Management - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, USA.

Served as a Marine Engineer and Technical Manager for International Shipping Companies in India, United Kingdom and Canada.

Worked for over 25 years in the United Nations System. Was responsible for technical assistance programmes and advisory services to member states. Assisted in the formulation and implementation of Port Safety and Port Security conventions and implementation of Global training programmes including the TRAINMAR and PDP projects.

Held senior positions as:

  • Senior Adviser, Shipping Division, UNCTAD
  • Principal Adviser to the Secretary General, UNCTAD,
  • Senior Maritime Specialist ILO,
  • Senior Maritime Specialist, Asia Infrastructure Division, The World Bank, Washington USA.

As an Independent Consultant worked for:

  • Adani Port Ltd. Ahmedabad, India. Port of Mundra.
  • Hutchison Port Holdings, Hong Kong. Business Development.
  • Director of the International Cargo Handling Co-ordination Association (ICHCA International), London.
  • Government of Canada, Canadian International Development Agency - member CIDA Technical team to the project – Inter-modal Transport Services to the Interior of China, (PRC).
  • Adviser, South African Ports Operations (SAPO) a division of TRANSNET South Africa on Port Operations and Restructuring.

Worked for the Adani Group of Companies since 2006 as Senior Advisor, Chairman, PMC Projects (India) Ltd., Director, Howe (India) Private Ltd. Executive Director, Adani Shipping Pte Ltd. and Director Adani Global Pte. Ltd., Singapore.

Retired from active service of the Adani Group on 1 April 2016.

Bhavesh Patel, a Senior Fulbright Research Scholar from USA to Lebanon, 2008-09, was earlier Director, Adani Institute for Education & Research (AIER), an umbrella body of two institutions, namely, Adani Institute of Infrastructure Management (AIIM) and Adani Institute of Infrastructure Engineering (AIIE).

He studied at the Bhavan’s College, Dakor (Gujarat) to earn his degree Bachelor of Commerce (1974), I. V. Patel College of Commerce, Nadiad (Gujarat) to earn degree Masters of Commerce (1976) both from Gujarat University. He earned his Ph. D. in finance in 1990 from Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat.

Bhavesh Patel is in academia for forty years now. In the initial academic career, he taught in the BBA Program, B. J. Commerce College, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat, before joining the finance department of XLRI, Jamshedpur in 1985. After 15 years at XLRI, Jamshedpur he shifted to the USA, where he worked for a brief period in the industry for designing financial reporting systems and then taught at California State University, Stanislaus for a semester in 2001-02 before joining the Myers University, Cleveland, Ohio in 2002. In April 2009 he returned to India to join as a Director of School of Petroleum Management, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. From November 2009 to March 2010 he also held charge as Director General of the University. In December 2011 he joined Ahmedabad University as Dean of Amrut Mody School of Management.

Bhavesh Patel has taught several courses in corporate finance, investment and management accounting at the undergraduate as well as graduate level; in a traditional format and in online environments; and to young and adult learners. He has designed an integrated business management game and also some decision support systems for classroom teaching and executive training. He has a wide experience of business consulting and executive training in India and abroad.

He has published five books, including one in the USA. He has also published self-instructional materials on Project Management, Entrepreneurship Management and Project Management for Retail for more than thirty universities of India. He has several publications (research papers, articles, chapters in edited books, book reviews, cases, etc.) to his credit in India and abroad. He is also a reviewer of papers for many conferences and journals and a doctoral thesis examiner for Universities in India and abroad.

Bhavesh Patel has been organizing annual international conferences in the USA since 2003 and also outside the USA since 2008 under the aegis of International Academy of Business and Economics (www.iabe.org) of which he is a cofounder and served it as a President as well as Vice President. He is associated with fourteen refereed journals published by IABE, USA, one published in the UK and two journals of India. Of these journals he is a Managing Editor of two refereed journals.

Education
Ph. D (IIT-Madras) – Construction Engineering & Management
M. Tech. (IIT-Madras) – Building Technology & Construction Management
B. E. (Civil Engg.) - Birla Engg. College, Sardar Patel University

Experience

  • Thirty years of Teaching / Research / Consultancy / Administrative experience in University / Engineering Higher Education.
  • Extensive experience in higher education academic administration covering system development in teaching, learning and quality & standards, faculty recruitment, staff planning, course leadership, institutional accreditation activities, project implementation etc. Familiar with Indian & UK University academic regulations and quality procedures.
  • Taught many engineering and management courses at undergraduate and graduate levels including Construction Project Management, Concrete Technology, Material Science, Construction Methods & Equipment, Construction Engineering, Highway Engineering Contract Management, Project Investment Analysis & Appraisal, and related Civil Engineering/Facility Management courses.
  • Research experience in the area of Construction Materials, Contract Management and Risk Management in PPP Projects.

Dr. Pankaj Singh is the Head-Services (BD/Commercial/IT/HR), Adani Institute of Education & Research and Group Head - Learning & Development for the Adani Group. He is leading the human capital transformation and key strategic initiatives to build a robust leadership pipeline of motivated leaders & employees to accomplish the vision & goals in line with its values & culture, and to drive the growth and sustainability of all its existing & new businesses.

He is an innovative thinker and expert practitioner in developing dynamic global leaders, and has consulted with market-leading firms in a wide range of industries and organizational contexts in the USA (for over 17 years), China/Asia-Pacific (for 2 years) and India. He has extensive experience in building leadership pipeline, talent development & management systems leveraging leading-edge technologies and methodologies with a track record of business excellence and P&L/cost leadership. He is a sought-after keynote speaker and has published numerous articles and case studies on global leadership, mobile/social learning, and knowledge networks.

Pankaj was a Managing Director at GrowthLeaders®, a global strategy consulting and leadership development consultancy. He was responsible for growth, capability development, and client delivery in India, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

His Management Consulting experience also includes 7 years at Deloitte. He was responsible for implementing a new global talent strategy in Financial Advisory Services, and implementing a new leadership development architecture for Deloitte’s US – China Consulting Joint Venture being based in China (Beijing/Shanghai/Hong Kong) for 2 years.

He also founded several successful learning and development, education and technology enterprises in New York, USA.

Pankaj is a Ph.D. from Columbia University in New York, USA. His research and teaching interests focus on the application of cognitive neuroscience to develop right brain pattern recognition skills in next generation strategic leaders. He holds a MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur, and a Leadership Certificate from Harvard Business School, USA. He has Bachelors in Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, India.

Honored/Published/Presented globally in conferences/events in USA, India (at CII Conferences, HR/CLO Summits). Here are some of his honor/publications:

Honored with Green Award for the first online delivery of New Hire Training for Deloitte Financial Advisory Services at Deloitte, New York, USA, 2010

Won the Green Award for greening and sustainability efforts in Learning by using SharePoint collaboration technology and saving costs. It’s been scaled and adopted for other L&D programs

Published and presented eLearning, Mobile Learning & Social Learning: Deloitte’s Leading Edge Virtual Training at International Conference of E-Learning in Workplace, New York, USA, 2009

Also presented the above paper at Innovation Norway (delegates from industry, non-profit and the government of Norway)

Published and Presented Exploiting Social Networking Communities for Talent Development at Deloitte University, USA, 2010

Published and Presented Proximal Assessment to Reduce Learner Gaps (National Science Foundation funded project, Collaboration of US Government and Columbia University, New York) at 29th Eastern Evaluation Research Society Annual Conference, New Jersey, USA, 2006.