Office Bearers

Subhrakant  Panda  is  Managing  Director  of  Indian Metals  &  Ferro  Alloys  Ltd  (www.imfa.in)  which  was established in 1961 and is today the country's leading producer  of  value  added  ferro  chrome  with  own chrome ore mines and captive power generation. He serves  as  Trustee  of  the  Bansidhar  &  Ila  Panda Foundation (www.bipf.org.in) which is the CSR arm of IMFA and is named after its Founders. 

He  is  President  of  the  Federation  of  Indian  Chambers  of  Commerce  &  Industry (FICCI),  India's  apex  business  chamber,  having  earlier  served  as  Chairman  of  the Odisha State Council and the National Manufacturing Committee. He is Past President (2017-18) of the International Chamber of Commerce (India Chapter) and is also only the  third  Indian  to  have  been  elected  President  (2013-15)  of  the  Paris-based International Chromium Development Association (ICDA). 

Mr Panda graduated with honours summa cum laude from  the Questrom School of Business,  Boston  University  in  1993  with  a  dual  concentration  in  Finance  and Operations  Management.  He  has  been  recognised  for  his  outstanding  scholastic achievement by being named to the Beta Gamma Sigma Honour Society for Collegiate Schools of Business and Golden Key National Honour Society. 

He is a keen reader and his interests include technology. 

Dr. Anish Shah is the Managing Director and CEO of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. He joined Mahindra Group in 2014, as Group President (Strategy), and worked closely with all businesses on key strategic initiatives, built capabilities such as digitization & data sciences and enabled synergies across group companies. In 2019, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director and Group CFO, with responsibility for the Group Corporate Office and full oversight of all businesses other than the Auto and Farm sectors, as a part of the transition plan to the CEO role.

Anish was President and CEO of GE Capital India from 2009-14, where he led the transformation of the business, including a turnaround of its SBI Card joint venture. His career at GE spanned 14 years, during which he held several leadership positions at GE Capital's US and global units. As Director, Global Mortgage, he worked across 33 countries to drive growth and manage risk. As Senior Vice President (Marketing and Product Development) at GE Mortgage Insurance, he led various growth initiatives and played a key role in preparing the business for an IPO, as a spinoff from GE. In his initial years with GE, Anish also led Strategy, eCommerce and Sales Force Effectiveness and had the unique experience of running a dot-com business within GE. Anish also received GE's prestigious Lewis Latimer Award for outstanding utilisation of Six Sigma in developing a 'Digital Cockpit.'

He has diverse experience with global businesses beyond GE. He led Bank of America's US Debit Products business, where he launched an innovative rewards program, led numerous initiatives in payment technology and worked closely with various teams across the Bank to enhance value for the customer.

As a strategy consultant at Bain & Company in Boston, he worked across multiple industries, including banking, oil rigs, paper, paint, steam boilers and medical equipment. His first role was with Citibank in Mumbai, where he issued bank guarantees and letters of credit as Assistant Manager, Trade Services.

Anish holds a Ph.D from Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business where his doctoral thesis was in the field of Corporate Governance. He also received a Masters degree from Carnegie Mellon and has a post-graduate diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He has received various scholarships, including the William Latimer Mellon Scholarship, Industry Scholarship at IIMA, National Talent Search and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.

Sanjiv Mehta is the CEO & Managing Director, Hindustan Unilever  Limited (HUL), President, Unilever South Asia & Member, Unilever Leadership Executive (Global Executive Board) which is India's largest 'fast moving consumer goods' (FMCG) Company and one of the most valuable corporates in the country. Sanjiv also heads Unilever's business in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Nepal) having a turnover of $7 billion as President, South Asia. Sanjiv is also a member of the 12 member 'Unilever Leadership Executive' team which runs global Unilever. 

Sanjiv has done his Bachelors in Commerce (India), Chartered Accountancy (India) and has also completed his Advanced Management Program (Harvard Business School). 

Sanjiv has been with Unilever for 27 years and for the last 18 years he has led businesses in different parts of the world. He has been Chairman and Managing Director of Unilever Bangladesh Limited (2002 - 2006), Chairman and CEO of Unilever Philippines Inc. (2007 - 2008), Chairman of Unilever - North Africa and Middle East (2008 - 2013) and from October 2013 he assumed his responsibilities of heading Unilever's business in India and South Asia. 

During his six years at Hindustan Unilever, the market capitalization of the Company has increased from $17 billion to over $60 billion making HUL one of the most valuable companies in the country. In this period, HUL has won the prestigious Economic Times 'Company of the Year' & 'Corporate Citizen of the Year' awards and Business Standard's 'Company of the year' award. Forbes has rated HUL as the most innovative company in India and the 8th most innovative company in the world. Aon Hewitt in a global study rated HUL as the 3rd best company globally for building leaders. 

Sanjiv is a Director on the Board of Indian School of Business, a member of the Breach Candy Hospital Trust and South Asia Advisory Board of Harvard Business School. He chairs Xynteo's 'India 2022' a coalition of top Indian and MNC companies, FICCI's FMCG Committee, CII's National Committee on MNCs and Co-chairs the Advisory Network to the High Level Panel for a 'Sustainable Ocean Economy'. 

Sanjiv was conferred the honorary degree of "Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management" by Xavier University (Xavier Institute of Management) Bhubaneswar, was recognized as "Business Leader" of the year by the All India Management Association and was conferred the prestigious Economic Times "Business Leader of the Year" award. 

A firm believer that 'doing well' and 'doing good' are two sides of the same coin he propagates the cause of compassionate capitalism. Sanjiv is married to Mona who too is a Chartered Accountant by training. They have twin daughters Naina and Roshni who have studied at MIT, Cornell and Harvard Universities.

Mr Pathak is Secretary General, FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), India's largest, oldest and apex Business Chamber established in 1927. FICCI has corporate members as well as associations representing over 2,50,000 entities covering all Indian states, across large, medium and small industry and businesses.

Prior to joining FICCI in March 2023, Mr Pathak had been CEO/MD of large companies in the private sector as well as in the government in various roles involving execution, financing and strategy. During his 19 years in the corporate sector, he was with ICICI, L&T and IDFC, among others. As an IAS officer for 17 years (1990-2007), he served in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. His assignments included Secretary, Public Works Department, MD of the State Industrial Development Corporation, and Director, Institutional Finance.

In 2022, he transited to the non-profit sector as Director & Professor of Practice at Indian School of Public Policy. Mr Pathak is one of the few Indians who have worked across Government, Business and Academia. He started his career in 1986 with 4 years in investment banking with ICICI and HSBC. He has worked in areas related to private equity investing, international dollars into India from global pension funds, smart cities and urban issues, infrastructure project structuring, finance and execution, and public private partnerships. His passions include public policy, cities, infrastructure and finance.

His industry affiliations include, since 2016, membership of G20's B20 Task Force, Co-Chair of BRICS Business Council which he joined in 2012, and Co-Chair, FICCI Transport Infrastructure committee, among others. He has over 40 publications on public policy, cities, infrastructure, and finance.

His extensive international exposure includes an Eisenhower Fellowship (2000) as an emerging young Indian Leader to study cities and infrastructure in the United States, an EU Visitor Program (2003) hosted by the European Commission, and a Chevening Fellowship (2011) on Science and Innovation at the University of Oxford.

Mr. Pathak has an MBA from IIM Calcutta, after graduating from SRCC Delhi. He has an LLB, and also a Diploma in Ornithology from BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society). He was the best all-round officer trainee in his Foundation Course at LBSNAA, Mussoorie in 1990. He has scaled a 6831 m peak in the Himalayas and has trekked extensively. He is a dedicated environmentalist and wildlifer, and is committed to sustainable development.

Mr. Arun Chawla is Director General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), India's apex business chamber representing industry and trade.

Mr. Chawla is a post-graduate with a degree in Law from the University of Delhi.  He has over 35 years of work experience, most of which have been gained while holding charge of important verticals at FICCI. He also has to his credit a long stint in the corporate sector prior to joining FICCI. 

FICCI was set-up in 1927, under the inspiration of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. It today represents over 250,000 enterprises and nearly 300 Chambers and Associations spread across the country. 

Mr. Chawla has witnessed the unfolding of economic reforms in India through the prism of business and industry and has steadfastly worked to deepen the reform process across sectors and states. His legal acumen has enabled him to identify the core competencies of various states and sectors of India, thus helping to channelize domestic and foreign investment flows into the thrust areas. He has spearheaded FICCI's efforts at facilitating ease of doing business by striving to promote harmonious corporate relations.

He has travelled extensively worldwide to showcase the economic opportunities in India to potential investors. This has contributed immensely towards building strong Public-Private Partnerships in many key areas of the economy. 

He serves as a member on several Government constituted committees at the Central and State levels and has also been a member of many overseas Ministerial delegations representing FICCI.

Mr. Chawla has authored many articles for the national dailies of India on legal, social, and political-economy issues.