Mr. Nitin Gadkari is the Minister for Road Transport and Highways (RTH), Government of India. Mr. Nitin Gadkari was born on 27th May 1957 in a middle-class family with roots in agriculture in Maharashtra’s orange-city Nagpur. Mr. Gadkari got involved very closely with the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and took to social work in a big way.

Mr. Gadkari completed his Post-Graduation in Commerce, besides studying Law and obtaining a Diploma in Business Management. Mr. Gadkari formally entered politics in 1980. Principally he believe that Politics is an instrument to bring socio-economic reforms in society. He went on to become BJP’s State President in Maharashtra in 2005. He was elevated to the post of party’s National President at the young age of 52 in 2009. He also served as PWD Minister in Maharashtra Government and was leader of the opposition in the state legislative council for four consecutive terms.

Mr. Gadkari is committed to adopt a transport fuel which is import-substitute, cost effective, indigenous and pollution-free. Under Mr. Gadkari’s guidance, the city of Nagpur was the first city to explore alternative biofuels for transportation including bio-CNG, bio-ethanol and LNG. Mr. Gadkari is also introducing flex fuel engines to be run on 100% ethanol, and launched a first ever tractor run on bi-CNG, thus providing additional income to farmers and the agricultural sector. He is also emphasizes on adoption of Green Hydrogen as clean and indigenous source of energy across various industries and mobility sector. Recently, he has launched a car in Delhi, on pilot basis, which run purely on hydrogen.

Under his supervision, over 70,000 kms of National Highways have been constructed in the last 7 years and 30, 0000 kms of new roads are being constructed currently. Twenty two world class access-controlled Green field expressway projects being led by Mr Gadkari under Bharatmala pariyojana phase-1, are presently in various stages of construction. He is the man behind marvelous engineering showcases like Bandra-Worli Sea Link, 55 flyovers in Mumbai, India‘s First Mumbai-Pune Expressway, 14-lane Delhi-Meerut Expressway, Nagpur’s multi-layer metro rail cum flyover system and upcoming high-tech Delhi-Mumbai expressway.

35 multi-modal logistics park, 50 economic corridors and 15 intermodal stations are currently being developed under Mr Gadkari’s tenure. Among his other endeavors, unprecedented progress is evident in port industrialization, national water highway traffic, jetties for coastal tourism, Ganga-Yamuna cleaning, fund raising, asset monetization project, etc. He is now taking a lead in development of new sustainable mobility and last mile connectivity modes like Ropeway, Cable car, Funicular rail, etc. across the country.

Mr. Gadkari introduced the first ever Vehicle Scrappage Policy which proved to be the fight against pollution in the interest of Road and Vehicle safety. New FASTAG policy is helping commuters to save their fuel and time on toll plazas. Some of his major work includes unprecedented push for R&D in electric vehicles for developing alternative battery chemistries such as Sodium ion and Aluminum ion batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. With waste to wealth policy, Mr. Gadkari is promoting use of new, advanced and recycled waste materials into road construction works. For fast and economical construction, He has mandated large scale use of prefabricated precast concrete elements in the highways projects. He is encouraging tree plantation along the highways, installation of solar panels, rain water harvesting and artificial groundwater recharge systems. Mr. Gadkari is committed for the development of qualitative, time-bound, cost effective and sustainable world-class infrastructures in the country.

During his tenure as the Union Minister Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation, the monumental Namami Gange project became a mass movement involving central and state government agencies, private sector and foreign investors, NGOs, spiritual and social organizations as well as the common people. With his political stature he resolved inter-state disputes on water sharing and river linking involving 16 rivers in 11 states in a short span of six months. During his tenure, first Inland Waterway was developed, and goods movement was commenced between Varanasi and Kolkata, adding new dimension to logistical history of the country.

Shri RN Singh, alumnus of IIT Roorkee, is an IRSE Officer of 1986 Batch. He has handled very important executive and management positions on Indian Railways and PSUs including Divisional Railway Manager, Delhi Division, Principal Executive Director/ Infrastructure/Ministry of Railways, Managing Director/ DFCCIL and Secretary/Railway Board.

He has long experience in the field of planning and execution of major infrastructure projects including Dedicated Freight Corridor, High Speed Railway etc. and has wide experience of Railway management. His areas of interest include Project Management, PPP and Strategic Management.

Shri Amit Varadan (IRTS, 1989 batch) is presently working as Joint Secretary (Motor Vehicle Legislation/Transport/Toll/International Cooperation) in the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways w.e.f. 27.11.2020. He had earlier worked as Joint Secretary in the Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India.

Shri Amit Varadan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University and a Master’s Degree in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is also an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University. Prior to his posting as Joint Secretary, he was Divisional Railway Manager, Secunderabad.

Shri Varadan joined Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) in August 1990. During his tenure in the Ministry of Railways, he has worked in various wings viz., Operating, Commercial, Safety, Vigilance, Information Technology and Public Relations at various levels in the Divisional Units (cutting edge of Railway Operations), in Zonal Headquarters and Railway Board. Prior to joining IRTS, he had worked as Lecturer of Economics in Hindu College, Delhi University.

Mr. Dimitrov Krishnan is the Managing Director of Volvo Construction Equipment’s Indian business.He holds a Bachelor of Technology in Mining Machinery from the prestigious Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad, India. He dig his management education at the INSEAD Business School, Fontainebleau, France.Mr. Dimitrov Krishnan has been part of the Construction & Mining Equipment Industry in India and Asia Pacific region for 27 years. He spent the first 13 years of his career working in India and from 2006 to 2014 he held senior management roles at Asia Pacific region based out of Singapore. In October 2014, he returned to India to head Volvo Construction Equipment in India. Mr. Dimitrov Krishna is also currently the President of Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (ICEMA) – an apex industry body which works towards the growth and development of construction equipment sector in India. He has been an active member of the Governing Council of ICEMA for last 5 years.

At CRISIL, Dharmakirti leads the economic research agenda and is the primary spokesperson for CRISIL on macroeconomic issues. He has extensive experience in macroeconomic analysis and medium-term assessments of the Indian economy.

He was member of the Working Group of Savings for the 12th Five Year Plan. He is currently member of Working Group on Revision of Wholesale Price Index set up Government of India.

He co-chair of Economics group at FICCI.

Member, Industry and Trade Committee, Indian Merchant Chamber

Member, Industry Monitoring Group, RBI

Member, Board of Studies of School of Economics of Narsee Munjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai

He regularly writes for leading newspapers and expresses his views on the economy in the electronic media.

Joshi has spent 33 years in economic research and consultancy. He spent 11 years at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) before moving on to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), New Delhi, and then CRISIL. At NCAER, Joshi worked on short- and medium-term macroeconomic forecasting using econometric models, macroeconomic reforms and fiscal policy related issues. At CERC, he worked on regulatory, competition and tariff related issues in the Indian power sector.

Joshi holds a bachelors and Master’s degree in Economics and has attended program on Macroeconomic Policy and Management at Harvard University. He was a visiting scholar to Economic Research Unit of University of Pennsylvania.

As Chief Economist, Aditi Nayar leads Indian economic research as well as state finances research and ratings at ICRA Ltd. Her focus areas include macroeconomic analysis and forecasting, policy assessment as well as fiscal analysis and debt sustainability at the sovereign and sub-sovereign level. She has been a part of several credit rating exercises for sub-sovereign debt in India, including debt raised by state governments, state-owned entities spanning sectors such as irrigation, power, industrial and infrastructure development, pooled finance entities raising funds for urban infrastructure, as well as urban local bodies.

Aditi has an overall work experience of 16 years, out of which 14 years have been with ICRA. Previously she has had a stint with the World Bank as a research analyst where her focus was on fiscal and macroeconomic issues. Aditi has been named as one of the top forecasters of India by Bloomberg in the past.

Aditi has an M.Phil. degree in Economics from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Psychology from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Mr. Vivek Hajela is Vice-President & Head- Construction Equipment Business, Larsen & Toubro Limited. Mr. Hajela is an engineering graduate from lIT-Roorkee with PG Diploma in Management & Finance. He has over 30 years of experience in L&T covering Construction & Mining Equipment. He has been working closely with Komatsu India Pvt. Ltd. and responsible for introducing international models in the Indian market. He has been committed to expanding the customer base for CE in L&T and trying out new applications for the benefit of the users.

Mr. Hajela is a strong votary of Atmanirbhar Bharat and has been promoting indigenously manufactured equipment by L&T for road construction. He has been involved in offering after-
market solutions to customers and in the development of dealers nationwide. Mr. Hajela is associated ICEMA (Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association) as Governing Council member and Convener of Brand Building| & Communication Panel, representing the interests of L&T and other members at various forums of mutual interest.

Mr. Sandeep Singh is a professional with a vision. A vision complemented with profound leadership and business development skills that empower him to lead and drive multinational organizations. With an excellent knowledge of crafting strategic alliances and marketing strategies, Mr. Singh has hands on experience in leading the organizations he has worked for across different geographies and departments, facilitating the process of marketing, sales and production across industries. With a rich experience of over three decades in Sales, Marketing, and Customer Support and General Management, Mr. Singh has worked in industries across Automobiles, Tractors and Construction Equipment sectors in India and abroad. An engineering graduate from the National institute of Technology Surat, he began his career with the Mahindra group where he worked in the Tractor and Automotive divisions.

Ex Vice President & Head – Roads, Runways & Elevated Corridors (RREC) SBG. LARSEN & TOUBRO LIMITED, INDIA Mr. Shrinath Rao has over 40+ years of extensive experience in Construction Industry with LARSEN & TOUBRO LIMITED. He has held various Senior Management positions in International (Middle East) for almost 22 years and 18+ years within India. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering and is a fellow from Oxford University. Currently he heads Roads, Runways & Elevated Corridors (Approx. volume of USD 4 Billion). Major activities under this unit are

• Expressways
• Roads & Runways
• Bridges & Special Bridges
• Elevated Corridors
• Dedicated Freight Corridors
• High Speed Rail

His experience is rich, varied and spanning across domains like Management, Construction, Contracts, and Inter-disciplinary Finance arrangement for Large scale projects.

Deepak Shetty is the CEO and Managing Director of JCB India Ltd, the country’s leading manufacturer of Earthmoving and Construction Equipment. The India operations of JCB commenced almost four decades ago and today also include the South Asia Region.

Prior to this, he was the Executive Vice President – Sales, Marketing, Product Support and Business Development. Under his leadership, JCB’s iconic Backhoe Loader has reinforced its leadership in the Indian Construction Equipment Market. He has also led to establishing JCB’s Tracked Excavators as a leading player in the industry more recently.

He is a member of the JCB Group Exec and is based out of the India Headquarters at Delhi-NCR and has been with the company for over a decade in various leadership roles, both in India and at JCB’s World Headquarters in the UK. He joined JCB India’s Pune operations in 2010 and was instrumental in developing it into a Global Manufacturing Hub for the group. He later went on to become the Managing Director of JCB’s Global Excavator business in the UK for four years.

Being passionate about the organisation-wide integration of Digital Technology in products and services through advanced Telematics; he has been a significant enabler in JCB becoming a pioneer with the introduction of IoT and Big Data in the industry.

Before joining JCB, Deepak worked for Larsen and Toubro Limited, India’s largest Engineering & Construction Company for about 17 years. He joined the engineering conglomerate as a Graduate Engineer Trainee and then moved on to different roles and responsibilities in India and later in the USA.

He is a member of CII’s (Confederation of Indian Industry) National Council and Chairs the CII National Committee on Capital Goods and Engineering. Deepak is the Chairman of Excon, South Asia’s largest exhibition for Construction Equipment and is also a member of the CII UK India CEO Forum. He is a Mechanical Engineer from the Birla College of Engineering and is an alumnus of SPJIMR, Mumbai and the Manchester Business School, the UK where he pursued management studies.

He lives in Gurugram (Delhi-NCR) with his wife and son, while his daughter is pursuing her Engineering at King’s College, London. An avid reader, he likes to travel and pursue his interests in Fitness, Arts and Culture.

In an illustrious career spanning over 25 years Mr Deepak Garg, has emerged as a renowned name in the world of Construction Equipment and Infrastructure.

His strong business acumen has not only ushered in a new era of tremendous growth at Sany India; catapulting company’s revenue growth by around 12 times in just five years but also, led to its complete turnaround from red to green in South Asia in just one year.

In the past, he has led many business giants including TATA Group to the zeniths of success earning him accolades like Crane Owners Association Award and CEO award at India China Forum.

Mr. Arvind Kumar Garg is Executive Vice-President and Head of L&T Construction & Mining Machinery with a diverse experience of 35 years in Larsen & Toubro Group. His responsibilities include the activities of L&T’s Rubber Process Machinery and Product Development Centre.

Mr. Garg is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Maulana Azad College of Technology (now NIT-Bhopal), and an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad and London Business School. Joining L&T as a GET, he has grown in manufacturing, marketing and service functions to occupy various leadership roles in the company.

In his long association with the Construction & Mining Equipment Industry, Mr. Garg has worked closely from L&T with the global majors like Komatsu-Japan and Scania-Sweden, to usher in world-class technologies and products in the Indian market. He was instrumental in introducing a slew of initiatives that saw L&T ramp up parts operations, rejig supply chain management and help improve the operational efficiency and asset management. He is now championing the cause of Digitalization with innovative solutions driven to enhance customer satisfaction.

As a Director on the Board of L&T’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Mr. Garg heads L&T Construction Equipment Limited (LTCEL), which manufactures Hydraulic Excavators, Wheel Loaders, Vibratory Compactors and high-quality Hydraulic Components. He is spearheading L&T’s active role in product indigenization and has nurtured new products and new markets as part of the Make-in-India initiative and paving the way for “Atmanirbhar Bharat”

Mr. Garg functioned earlier as the President of the Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA) and transformed the body into the most credible face of Indian Construction Equipment Industry. He led an active role in the industry relating to recommendations on issues of emerging trends, indigenization, imports, taxation, emission norms and in establishing a level-playing field. As Immediate Past Chairman of Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council (ESC), Mr. Garg was instrumental in promoting skill building among various stakeholder and achieved a breakthrough by signing an MoU with Govt of Odisha for skilling IT candidates in hydraulics used on earthmoving equipment.

Mr. Garg is also the driving force encouraging safe operating practices in the CE industry, strengthening relationships with the global CE forums and promoting technological competitiveness in the local industry. He is on the CIl’s (Confederation of Indian Industry) high-powered Steering Committee for major exhibitions like Exon, ConMac and is Chairman of Bauma Conexpo India Task Force.

Mr. Arvind Kumar Garg is Executive Vice-President and Head of L&T Construction & Mining Machinery with a diverse experience of 35 years in Larsen & Toubro Group. His responsibilities include the activities of L&T’s Rubber Process Machinery and Product Development Centre.

Mr. Garg is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Maulana Azad College of Technology (now NIT-Bhopal), and an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad and London Business School. Joining L&T as a GET, he has grown in manufacturing, marketing and service functions to occupy various leadership roles in the company.

In his long association with the Construction & Mining Equipment Industry, Mr. Garg has worked closely from L&T with the global majors like Komatsu-Japan and Scania-Sweden, to usher in world-class technologies and products in the Indian market. He was instrumental in introducing a slew of initiatives that saw L&T ramp up parts operations, rejig supply chain management and help improve the operational efficiency and asset management. He is now championing the cause of Digitalization with innovative solutions driven to enhance customer satisfaction.

As a Director on the Board of L&T’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Mr. Garg heads L&T Construction Equipment Limited (LTCEL), which manufactures Hydraulic Excavators, Wheel Loaders, Vibratory Compactors and high-quality Hydraulic Components. He is spearheading L&T’s active role in product indigenization and has nurtured new products and new markets as part of the Make-in-India initiative and paving the way for “Atmanirbhar Bharat”

Mr. Garg functioned earlier as the President of the Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA) and transformed the body into the most credible face of Indian Construction Equipment Industry. He led an active role in the industry relating to recommendations on issues of emerging trends, indigenization, imports, taxation, emission norms and in establishing a level-playing field. As Immediate Past Chairman of Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council (ESC), Mr. Garg was instrumental in promoting skill building among various stakeholder and achieved a breakthrough by signing an MoU with Govt of Odisha for skilling IT candidates in hydraulics used on earthmoving equipment.

Mr. Garg is also the driving force encouraging safe operating practices in the CE industry, strengthening relationships with the global CE forums and promoting technological competitiveness in the local industry. He is on the CIl’s (Confederation of Indian Industry) high-powered Steering Committee for major exhibitions like Exon, ConMac and is Chairman of Bauma Conexpo India Task Force.

Pratik Kumar is a member of Wipro’s senior leadership team, closely associated with Wipro’s growth over the years. He has played a significant role in shaping Wipro into a leading global player over his more than two and a half decades of association with the company.

He assumed leadership as CEO of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering (WIN) in July of 2010. Since its inception over 40 years back, WIN’s hydraulics business is a global leader in custom-built Hydraulic Cylinders.

Pratik has scripted WIN’s journey into new businesses, Industrial Automation, Aerospace and Additive Manufacturing and consolidated its leadership in the existing business of Hydraulics and Water. He has led the company’s expansion into growth markets and geographies. Today WIN has 21 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities across four continents. In the last 11 years, WIN has acquired Five Companies and forged a joint venture with Kawasaki.

Pratik spent his initial years at Wipro in the IT business before taking over the mantle of HR leadership of the Corporation in 2002. Under Pratik’s leadership, Wipro was recognized as the first company in the world to be assessed at PCMM Level 5, the highest maturity level on the SEI framework of Carnegie Mellon University.

Pratik is a member of the Board of Wipro Enterprises (P) Limited and a member of the Group Executive Council of Wipro Group. He is an active member of the various industry bodies.

Pratik is a Postgraduate in Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Chris Sleight is recognised as one of the world’s leading authorities on global construction equipment markets. He holds an honours degree in civil engineering, and since joining KHL Group in 1997 has edited the world’s two leading magazines for the industry – International Construction and Construction Europe.

Following the acquisition of Off-Highway Research by KHL in June 2015, Chris transferred to the market intelligence, forecasting and management consultancy business. He assumed the role of Managing Director of the business unit at the start of 2018 and is responsible for all aspects of the day-to-day running of the division.

An engineer from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh and MBA from Leeds University Business School, UK; Mr Samir Bansal has over 35 years of work experience, mostly in the construction equipment industry across functions such as Manufacturing, Procurement, Marketing and Sales, and Consulting.

As General Manager, he heads the Off-Highway Research operations in India and joined the company when it established its India office at New Delhi in 2007. Earlier, he has worked for Hindustan Motors Ltd, Escorts Construction Equipment Ltd and TIL Ltd.

Off-Highway Research is a management consultancy that specialises in the research and analysis of international construction and agricultural equipment markets that was formed in 1981 as a division of The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and is now owned by KHL Group. It offers a unique level of international research expertise to the construction, earthmoving, mining, industrial and agricultural equipment industries, and is largest of its kind in the world.

An industrial and production engineer, Mr. Senthil Kumar has 3 decades of experience in the engineering industry. He is the Managing Director of Oriental Plants and Equipments Pvt.
Ltd. (OPEL) & Propel Industries Pvt. Ltd. (Propel). Propel is a leading manufacturer in India for crushing and screening machineries for construction and mining industry with the workforce of around 2,000 employees, and exporting to 13 countries. Propel is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company which is also the first Indian company to get CE certification (“Conformité Européenne”) in this segment.

Mr. Senthil Kumar has a passion for engineering design spending time on research and development for mining and construction equipments. He has designed machinery to manufacture environment friendly solutions for construction industry.

Mr. Senthil Kumar has interest in golfing, gardening and music, apart from engineering design.

Many awards and recognitions have come his way. These include –

• ‘Outstanding and exemplary achievements in entrepreneurship’ recognition in Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards in 2018.
• ‘Most Promising Business Leaders of Asia’ award by The Economic Times in 2017
• Propel Industries was awarded as ‘Emerging Construction Equipment Company of the Year’ during 9th Annual Equipment India Awards by FIRST Construction Council in 2021
• Propel Industries has been profiled in ‘Leading Mid‐Corporates of India 2020’ released by Dun & Bradstreet India in 2020
• Propel Industries was recognised as an ‘Iconic Brands of India 2020’ by The Economic Times in 2020

Mr Nair comes with over 35 years experience in the Construction Equipment Industry. He started his career as a Graduate Engineer Trainee at Tata Hitachi. His extensive experience includes Sales, Customer Support and Key Account Management in leadership roles. He has deep knowledge of the business and strong customer connect.

Anjali Pandey leads the Engine Business and Components Business for Cummins in India. In her current role, she is responsible for deeper penetration in several market segments in the on and off highway markets by continuing to deliver value to all stakeholders. In addition to this, Anjali also leads the Powertrain and Electrification programs for Cummins in India. In this capacity, she works towards identification of market and customer needs to ensure successful introduction of new products. Anjali’s association with Cummins India dates back to 2001. She has experience in supply chain, product planning, business strategy, internal audit and general management. Anjali holds a BE degree in Production Engineering and an MBA in Finance and Strategy from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana, USA. A certified auditor, she has received many awards at Cummins and externally. She received the Woman Achiever Award for the year 2011 and was featured among the India’s Women Business Leaders 2017 by the Economic Times- Spencer Stuart listing of India’s hottest executives under 40 years. She is also the Chairperson of the Western Region Manufacturing Council – Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and a Governing Council member of Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA). A strong advocate of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at workplace, she believes that Cummins is the place to be, offering ample opportunity to learn and grow at every stage alongside the flexibility of gaining experience across multiple functions and specializations. Very recently, she has received the Women Building India – Committed Leader Award from CII EXCON 2022 for her outstanding commitment to promote Diversity, Equity,and Inclusion at the workplace.

Mr. Anand Sundaresan comes with an industrial experience of over 45 years, predominantly from the construction equipment industry. He has worked in various domestic & international companies in India, like L&T Ltd., Greaves Cotton Ltd. etc. His last assignment was with Schwing Stetter India Pvt. Ltd. where he was the Vice Chairman & Managing Director. He was instrumental in setting up the operation in India in the year 1999 and grown this company from a turnover of 8 Crores in the first year to 2100 Crores by the year 2018 with an employees strength of 2500 persons. Presently, he is a Managing Director of Ammann India Pvt. Ltd. which is a Swiss based company located in Mehsana, Gujarat.

During his journey, he has received many awards & recognitions and was also actively participated in various industrial associations like CII, ICEMA, MCCI, EFSI etc.

Past Chairman of CII – Chennai Zone
Task force leader of CII conducted Excon Construction Fair and steering committee member for almost 20 years.
Past President of ICEMA (Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association)
Past Chairman of IESC (Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council)
Past President of EFSI (Employers Federation of Southern India)
Past Chairman of SIMA (Sipcot Irringatukotti Manufacturers Association)
Past General Committee Member of MCCI (Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industries)