KNOW YOUR HONCHOS

ADARSH GUPTA Executive Director, Liberty Shoes Ltd
Adarsh Gupta, executive director, Liberty Shoes Ltd., scripted the future of Liberty Shoes over the last 20 years. An avid learner and a commerce graduate from Kurukshetra University in Haryana, Adarsh has a diploma in footwear design from ARS Sutoria Institute, Milan, Italy. Widely travelled, he understands the global business scene quite emphatically. The first in his family to look beyond the footwear business, with his Liberty Bathroom Solutions the new company will offer quality-driven customers the finest in luxurious bathroom products.

AJJAY BIJLI Managing Director, PVR Ltd
A Harvard Business School alumnus and Hindu college graduate, Ajjay Bijli has provided tremendous impetus to the PVR expansion agenda. The company's unconsolidated total income was Rs 1,078.4 million in fiscal 2006. As of July 2006, PVR Ltd comprised 18 cinemas with a total of 70 screens spread over Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Indore.

AJAY KHANNA Executive Director-Retail, DLF Universal
Ajay Khanna is currently with DLF Universal Ltd, as executive director - retail. Earlier to this, he was working as CEO with JK Corp. Ltd. He started his career as advertising trainee with Lintas, and subsequently worked with Dunlop India Ltd as zonal manager/head office, profit centre head.

AJAY MEHRA Chief Operating Officer, Times Retail
After completing his MBA, Ajay Mehra joined Lakme Ltd from Tata Group as management trainee. Thereafter, he joined Trent Ltd, the Tata retail foray, as vice president - marketing, with responsibility of setting up the Westside chain of stores. Since November 2000, he has been working as COO, Times Retail, a division of Bennett Coleman & Co., as head of business. Ajay completed a senior executive course at Chevening (British Council) Scholar at Manchester Business School, UK. He is currently a member of the National Retailing Committee of CII.



AKHIL CHATURVEDI Managing Director, Provogue Ltd
He is a science graduate and holds a Masters degree in Management Studies from SP Jain Institute of Management Studies. Akhil Chaturvedi is the founder member of Provogue (India) Limited and is currently looking after corporate planning, technology and supply chain function of the company. Akhil plays a key role in all HR and legal matter related to the company business. He has varied experience in marketing FMCG products and worked with leading MNCs and Indian companies including Wimco Ltd, Balsara and Ion Exchange India. He has also worked with the UK-based Coopers and Lybrands Consulting Group on brand strategies.

ALOKE BANERJEE Chief Executive Officer, Total Home Expression (a division of S Kumars Nationwide Ltd) Aloke Banerjee handles the entire domestic business, which includes marketing, sales, supply chain management, production and outsourcing, as well as financials. Earlier to this, he was head of domestic business at Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Aloke had joined Tata Tea Ltd in 1992 and spent eight years there, growing from a management trainee to the sales and marketing manager. In 2000 he joined Britannia Industries Ltd as the group product manager.

ANAGGH DESAI Chief Executive Officer, Damas
Anaggh Desai joined Gitanjali Gems Ltd in 2005 as the group president, marketing & commercial. His job function covers corporate planning, marketing and all commercial activities of the group with emphasis on processes, governance, distribution channels and new initiative management. His 18-year career covers a broad spectrum of industries - right from market research, hospitality and mail order, to courier and logistics, travel and dotcom. Anaggh holds a Masters degree in Business Administration and a post-graduate degree in Marketing Management from the University of Baroda, Gujarat.

ANDREAS GELLNER Managing Director, adidas India Andreas Gellner is managing director of adidas India from 2004. He is responsible for managing the overall business of adidas in India, and aims to take the brand to a leadership position in the growing Indian market. In 2000, Gellner became one of the youngest-ever managing directors of adidas as the MD of adidas Malaysia. He holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from Portland State, US, and a university degree in Business from Stuttgart, Germany.

ANDREW LEVERMORE Chief Executive Officer, Hypercity Andrew Levermore, a South African, with retail career spanning over 23 years in both luxury and value retail, is CEO of HyperCity. He is responsible for the entire gamut of operations at Hypercity. Prior to joining K Raheja Corp., Andrew was in executive buying and merchandising management, with Macro, South Africa. Earlier to this, Levermore was managing director of Guys & Girls, a fashion chain trading across five southern African countries, followed by his next assignment as managing director of The Hub, a department store chain, and Sheet Street a homeware chain, both located in South Africa.

ANINDYA MUKHERJEE Senior Vice President, Sonodyne International Ltd
Anindya Mukherjee joined Sonodyne International Ltd in 1999, and today he is the senior vice president. Earlier to this, he was responsible for quality control and process management with Ford in Ohio.

ANUJ PURI Managing Director, Trammel Crow Meghraj Property Consultants
Anuj Puri has over 15 years of experience in multidisciplinary consulting, ranging from real estate to social development projects. He has handled projects in information technology, tourism, commercial, retail, leisure and entertainment, and housing sectors. Anuj is with Chesterton Meghraj since 1997. He is responsible for company operations in India and also reports to shareholders in the United Kingdom. Earlier on, he worked as management accountant in his firm Anuj Puri & Associates, New Delhi, and did a stint as chartered loss adjuster in Colin Farley & Associates, UK.

ARUN MAHAJAN Managing Director, Style Spa Furniture Ltd
A banker by profession, Arun Mahajan has been associated with KK Birla group for the last eight years. During the last three years, he has been heading the furniture business of the group as managing director, Style Spa Furniture Ltd (formerly Gautier India Ltd) and Indian Furniture Products Ltd. There has been substantial growth in the business during the period, which also saw the smooth transition of brand change from Gautier to Style Spa.

ARVIND K SINGHAL Chairman, Technopak Arvind Singhal started his career with DCM Group, thereafter taking on the mantle of managing director at KSA Technopak. Currently, he is the chairman of Technopak. Singhal is an active participant at various professional associations and industry fora, and is also a regular contributor to various publications. He has given guest lectures at various institutions in India including IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Lucknow, Indian School of Business - Hyderabad, MDI - Gurgaon, NIFT - Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi, and NID - Ahmedabad.

ASHISH CHORDIA Chief Executive Officer, Thanks
Ashish Chordia, chief executive officer/founder of THANKS, has played a significant role in transforming luxury retail in India. After obtaining his Bachelor of Science from Marshall School of Business (University of Southern California), he started working with Deloitte in the management consulting field, based in the United States of America. Chordia entered the luxury goods business by acquiring exclusive rights from renowned European luxury companies and began to establish the foundation of a luxury conglomerate, which would retail luxury products including but not limited to: cars, yachts, super bikes, fashion articles, and jewellery.

AZIZ MERCHANT Director, Brandz International Inc. UAE
He is a B.Engg (hons) and has done his MBA in Marketing from the United Kingdom. Aziz Merchant is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. He has worked with Chalhoub Group, the Middle East luxury goods retailer and distributor, for eight years as strategy and business development consultant. Aziz facilitated mergers and acquisitions of international brands for the Middle East as well as the subcontinent, both at distribution and retail levels. Aziz founded Brandz International Inc., a channel management company offering solutions for market entry, market penetration, and market reposition on representation basis.

B MADHIVANAN General Manager, ICICI Bank Ltd
Madhivanan Balakrishnan joined ICICI Bank in 1999 as head of marketing for ICICI Bank Credit Cards, and was a part of the team that launched the ICICI Bank card product in India (January 2000). He was promoted as business head for ICICI Bank Cards Center in the year 2002.

Madhivanan is a member of various advisory forums for the payment industry and is also associated with the RBI Committee on micro-payments. He has had his formal education in management from IIM Calcutta and joined ICICI Bank Cards Center with a strong background in sales and marketing and business development across consumer business companies, among them Pepsi Foods Ltd and Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd.

BA KODANDARAMA SETTY Chairman & Managing Director, VIVEKS BA Kodandarama Setty has developed Viveks from a 400-square-foot, single-store outfit into India's leading retailer of consumer durables. Setty plans to expand Viveks Group into a 200-store chain at national level in the next three years. He has been associated with the formation of Retailers Association of India (RAI).







BS NAGESH Managing Director & Customer Care Associate, Shoppers'Stop
A Master in management studies from Banaras Hindu University, BS Nagesh joined the K Raheja Group in 1991 to set up their retail business. Prior to joining Shoppers' Stop, Nagesh worked with Blow Plast, Orson and Corona. The vision of putting India on the retail map took him to apply for an IGDS (Intercontinental Group of Department Stores) membership, and Shoppers' Stop Limited is now a privileged member among other players like Selfridges, Karstadt, Manor, and Printemp. Nagesh has won scores of awards and titles over the past few years for vision and managerial expertise.

BHASKAR BHAT Managing Director, Titan Industries
Bhaskar Bhat, a Mechanical Engineering graduate from IIT, Madras, (1976), did his Post-graduation in Business Management from IIM Ahmedabad (1978). Most of his working experience has been in sales and marketing. Bhat started his career as a management trainee at Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. Pvt. Ltd in 1978. After spending five years there, he joined the Tata Watch Project initiated at Tata Press Ltd. Since 1983 he has been associated with the Tata Watch Project, which later became Titan Watches Ltd and is now Titan Industries. At Titan, Bhaskar Bhat has handled sales and marketing, HR, international business and general managerial assignments. He took over the reins as managing director from April 1, 2002.

BIJAY SAHOO President & Chief People Officer, Reliance Retail
Bijay Sahoo has a rich experience of over 20 years in strategic talent management in multinational and leading national companies in India and abroad. In his earlier assignment, Sahoo was the senior vice president and global head - HR at Wipro Technologies, and a director on the board of Wipro Spectramind. He has good experience of setting up HR practices for startup organizations - IDBI Bank, Coopers and Lybrand HR Consulting Practice, several business divisions of Wipro Technologies, and now Reliance Retail. Sahoo is an Economics (Hons) Graduate, with Masters in Personnel Management.




BIJOU KURIEN President and Chief Executive Officer, Lifestyle, Reliance Retail
Bijou Kurien joined Reliance Retail division and heads the Lifestyle and Luxury verticals in the retail initiative. A postgraduate in Business Management, he graduated from Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur, in 1981. He joined Hindustan Lever Ltd as a management trainee and worked in sales, marketing and projects for six years. Kurien joined Titan Industries Ltd in 1987 and worked in various capacities - as regional manager, marketing controller, vice president - sales and marketing, and chief operating officer (Watch division).



BIPIN GURNANI Chief Executive Officer, Business Development Joint Venture, Future Group
Bipin Gurnani had earlier worked with Piramyd, joining them as general manager, operations, in 2001 and then graduating to the position of COO in 2005. He was responsible for operations, buying and merchandising, and logistics for Piramyd Megastore and TruMart. In total, Gurnani has over 12 years of experience in hospitality and six years in retail. Prior to joining Piramyd, he was with Taj Group of Hotels and Ramada Grand Hotel, Australia. Gurnani completed his graduation from Lucknow University and holds an Associate Diploma in Sales and Marketing from Australia.

BIREN VAIDYA Managing Director, Egana India
Biren Vaidya took over as managing director, Egana India Pvt. Ltd, in 1999. Drawing on his experiences and introducing ingenuous new marketing ideas, Vaidya took the company from strength to strength, establishing it as a truly national brand with more than 250 stores across 40 cities.

C GOPALAKRISHNAN Consultant, Supermarket Retail Solutions
C Gopalakrishna is a refrigeration engineer by profession and graduated from Oklahoma State University. In the 1990s, he started the franchising concept under the Nilgiri's brand as part of an expansion programme.








CK VENKATRAMAN Chief Operating Officer, TANISHQ A B.Sc in Mathematics and Post-graduate Diploma holder in Management, CK Venkatraman worked in MAA Bozell and Mudra Communications for five years. He joined Titan Industries in 1990, and was heading the Advertising function. By 1994 he was marketing head in the company. Venkatraman took over as business head of the Titan Brand in 2003 and was looking after sales, marketing and retailing. In January 2005 he was appointed chief operating officer for the brand Tanishq.


CHETAN DESAI Director - Retail, Raymond Ltd
Chetan Desai heads the retail chain of Raymond, which has over 30 stores located across India. He has over 28 years of general management experience in India and abroad, with 10 years' working stint at Kenya.

CHETAN SHAH, Country Head, Pepe Jeans
Chetan Shah is country head, Pepe Jeans (India) Ltd, since 1991. He took over the reins of the Indian operations at the age of 29, to become the youngest Pepe employee to head overseas business. Chetan started his career with a two-year tenure in a consultancy firm in the United States, working closely with Wall Street. In 1989, he joined International Business Division of Pepe Jeans at their global headquarters in London.

CHITRANJAN DAR Chief Executive Officer, ITC (LRBD)
After qualifying as a mechanical engineer with a management degree, Chitranjan Dar joined ITC Ltd in its printing and packaging division in Chennai in the year 1981. Within this division he moved across locations and functions, and was at various times handling assignments in sales and marketing, manufacturing, projects and chain management. In 1998 he moved to Bhadrachalam Paperboards Ltd as head of sales and marketing. In 1999 he was inducted into DCM Shriram to set up 250 agri retail outlets in India . In December 2002, Chitranjan Dar was made chief executive of the Lifestyle Retailing Business Division of ITC Ltd.

DAMODAR MALL President, Food Business Division, Future Group
Mall has worked for 10 years at Hindustan Lever in sales and brand management. He has also been business head, Sangam Direct, Hindustan Lever. Mall has successfully promoted four own supermarkets in the Mumbai region. He is currently looking after the Food Business Division at Future Group. Mall is an alumnus of IIT, Bombay, and IIM, Bangalore.







DEVYANI RAMAN Head, India, World Luxury Council
Raman is heading the World Luxury Council in India. As director of operations, her mission is to collate the right brand mix of premium products and bespoke services from an international luxury-standardization perspective. Raman has successfully introduced the World Luxury Council concept in India. She led the team during the WLC launch in the presence of HRH Prince Michael of Kent (senior advisory board member), in both Delhi and Mumbai in February 2005.






DHARMESH JAIN Chairman and Managing Director, Nirmal Group of Companies l
Dharmesh Jain is handling Nirmal Lifestyle Limited, Nirmal Holding Limited. Nirmal Lifestyle Theatres Pvt. Ltd, Nirmal Super Market and Nirmal Hospitalities. Apart from that, he is also the joint secretary of Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (Managing Committee). He has a Bachelor's degree in commerce from RA Podar College in Mumbai. Jain is author of the book There is a Winner in You.

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HARISH BHATT Chief operating officer, Time Products Division, Titan Industries
Harish Bhatt is serving his second innings at Titan Industries as chief operating officer of the watches division. He was earlier vice president (sales and marketing), Tanishq, and became the jewellery division's chief operating officer in 2003. In the interim, he was president (marketing) at Tata Teleservices.
Harish Bhatt, a BE (electronics) graduate from BITS Pilani (1985) with a PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad (1987), joined Tata Administrative Service (TAS) in 1987. He has over the past 19 years handled several senior assignments within the Tata Group companies, including Tata Tea and Tata Chemicals.



HEMCHANDRA JAVERI President, Madura Garments
Hemchandra Javeri has successfully led the transformation of a portfolio of power brands from Madura - Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England and San Frisco. He has also driven an aggressive retail growth agenda for the exclusive brand stores, Planet Fashion and Trouser Town.
Hemchandra Javeri joined Madura Garments from Nike Inc., where he was the country manager, South Asia. He earlier worked for the UB Group, between 1993 and 2000, in different capacities, as controller - sales (West), general manager - marketing, and divisional vice president - sales. Javeri has a PGDBM degree from IIM Calcutta.


HEMU RAMAIAH Managing partner, Landmark (Trent) l
Hemu Ramaiah started her career at the Danai bookstore chain. She was later associated with the bookshop at Taj Sindoori and Adyar Park Sheraton. In 1987, the first Landmark bookstore in Nungambakkam in Chennai opened - retailing books, music, stationery, office equipment, home furnishings, toys and greeting cards. Subsequently, Ramaiah took charge of retail expansion in Coimbatore and Kolkata.

INDER DEV S MUSAFIR, Director, M&B Footwear
Inder Dev Singh Musafir is a qualified footwear technologist from the United Kingdom. He has grown M&B nearly 15 fold, since its inception in 1995 - from setting up state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities (in NOIDA & BADDI), to building world-class international brands like Lee Cooper and ID Smart Casuals. Apart from being a highly active entrepreneur, Musafir is also an integral member of the governing council of Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI).

JH MEHTA President, Spencer's Retail JH Mehta is a managing graduate from IIM, Ahmedabad. He joined Hindustan Lever as management trainee in 1974, and has worked in a wide variety of functional and business assignments there. In 2000, he became a member of the management committee, HLL. Since July 2006, he has taken over as president, Spencer's Retail, RPG Group.

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KABIR LUMBA Executive Director, Lifestyle International (P) Ltd
Kabir Lumba was earlier the president of Lifestyle, where he headed the buying and merchandising functions, while playing a key role in the company's strategic planning and expansion. Before that, Kabir spent two years at Pantaloon as chief executive officer (CEO), in 1997-99, and also served as chief operating officer (COO) at Proline India, in 1999-2004.


KISHORE BIYANI CEO, Future Group
A postgraduate in Marketing, Kishore Biyani heads Future Group. He made his foray in modern retailing in 1997 with the opening of the first Pantaloon outlet in Kolkata. Today, Future Group operates over 140 outlets across more than 30 cities, covering 4 million square feet. The group covers the entire Indian consumption space through its six business verticals - Future Retail, Future Capital, Future Brands, Future Space, Future Media and Future Logistics. Biyani is a passionate reader and devotes time to understanding major retailers and retail movements across the world. He is also keenly interested in studying human behaviours.

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NEEL C RAHEJA Managing Director, K Raheja
He has over 11 years of industry experience in real estate, retail, hospitality and entertainment, with special focus on hospitality and mall development. Neel Raheja has visualised and developed the Inorbit shopping mall at Malad, Mumbai. He is also involved in the Crossword retail venture and takes active interest in customer satisfaction and human resource development aspects of the Shoppers' Stop business. He was responsible for the development of the first phase of the company's hotel complex comprising Marriott Executive Apartments and Renaissance Mumbai Hotel & Convention Centre.

NIKHIL CHATURVEDI Managing Director, Provogue (India)
Nikhil Chaturvedi is a first-generation entrepreneur with more than 14 years of experience in various facets of business. A founder member of Provogue (India) Ltd, he has been responsible for overall operations and growth since its inception in November 1997. In 1998 the company launched Provogue, a brand designed for the contemporary Indian with a high style quotient. With Provogue, Nikhil has been instrumental in shaping fashion from concept to consumer with his hands-on management style of functioning

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