Shri Rajesh R. Gandhi is the Managing Director of Valilal Industries Limited and Chairman & Managing Director of Vadilal Enterprises Limited. With over 45 years of experience, he joined Vadilal’s family business after completing his graduation in 1979. He has played a vital role in shaping Vadilal into one of India’s largest ice-cream and processed food brands.

Ms. Dipti D. Salgaocar is Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in English Literature & Psychology, University of Bombay, 1982. She is currently Vice President – Corporate Communication, V. M. Salgaocar Corporation Pvt. Ltd., Goa. She is also Vice Chairperson of Managing Committee & Trustee, Sharada Mandir Schools (Miramar and Kadamba, Goa). Ms. Salgaocar is Vice-Chairperson, Sunaparanta – Goa Centre for the Arts and Trustee, Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Charitable Trust, Goa. She is also Life Member, Indian National Trust for Arts & Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Goa Chapter. Ms. Salgaocar has been Past President and Patron of Indian National Trust for Arts & Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Goa Chapter

Ms. Mamta Verma has more than 27 years of wide-ranging experience as a Civil Servant in the State of Gujarat. She is currently serving as Principal Secretary, Industries and Mines Department, Government of Gujarat. She had extensively worked in Policy Formulation and Implementation (SMEs and Large Enterprises), Investors Summit, Green Energy, Single Window Clearance Act and Online System, Urban Development, etc. She has worked with Departments like Energy and Petrochemical Department, Tourism Department, Urban Development, Finance Department and worked as various positions at the District Level. In year 2017, she was recognized with ‘Prime Minsters Award for Excellence in Public Administration’.

Shri Rahul Bhave is a senior banker with over 24 years of commercial banking experience in various capacities and has served across the country. He has served in National Housing Bank as Executive Director since 2020. He has worked to encourage a sound housing and housing finance system in the country, through effective supervision of HFCs and refinance to strengthen the grassroot credit delivery network.

Has experience of heading zone in commercial Bank. Apart from his expertise in retail operations, he also carries experience in the areas of Refinance, Supervision, Recovery, Risk Management, and IT.

Shri Bhave is an MBA in Public Management & Policy from IIM, Ahmedabad, and a Postgraduate in Statistics. He is also a qualified CAIIB professional.

Presently, he is Deputy Managing Director of IFCI Ltd. – a Govt. of India Undertaking. Besides IFCI Ltd., Shri Rahul Bhave is also on the Board of Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd. (SHCIL), IFCI Venture Capital Funds Ltd. (IVCF) and IFCI Infrastructure Development Ltd. (IIDL).

He is member of the General Body of Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) and Management Development Institute (MDI). Further, he is also the Chairman of Board of Trustees of IFCI Social Foundation.

EDII is headed by Dr. Sunil Shukla who has been closely associated, for more than three decades now, with entrepreneurship education, research, training and institution building. Dr. Shukla has envisioned and designed innovative, outcome based programmes and developmental interventions in ‘entrepreneurship’ and ‘intrapreneurship’, that have ensured sustainable results in terms of increased efficiency and performance, for varied target groups including students, faculty, business executives, bankers, managers, disadvantaged sections, family business successors, administrators and business counsellors.

The application-oriented post graduate, full-time education programme in entrepreneurship, launched by him, has been hugely appreciated and awarded, nationally and internationally. An entrepreneurship exponent, Dr. Shukla’s work has also left an indelible impact on the grounds of Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries, Asia, Africa, America, Iran and Uzbekistan. His research work has led to notable policy advocacy and decisions. He leads the largest and the most prestigious annual study of entrepreneurial dynamics in the world – the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) India Chapter. Today several organizations and departments are benefitting from his guidance and mentorship by having him on their Boards.

Dr. O. P. Goel is the former head of Bosch India Foundation, CSR and Skill Development. He did his PhD in the area of Training and Development. He also did his Executive Management program from IIM, Bangalore. During his 35 years of career in the corporate sector, he worked in different senior business management roles. Dr Goel headed Bosch Vocational Centre at Bangalore, until his superannuation in April’22, which has been running the German apprenticeship training model for the last 60 years. For 54 times, the Centre has been awarded as the Best Apprenticeship Centre by the President of India and has produced 245 gold medalist apprentices. Dr. Goel also chaired various skill committees set up by CII and other industry associations. Dr Goel set up and headed Bosch Sales Training Academy for Asia Pacific region to train Bosch sales managers from countries like Japan, Australia, Korea, China, Singapore and Malaysia. Well-travelled across the globe, he is especially passionate about Training of the Trainers and employment-linked upskilling of the youth. BRIDGE, a short-term skilling program for school drop-out youth is the brainchild of Dr Goel. Under this program, 50,000 less educated, underprivileged youth have been trained and employed through more than 725 BRIDGE centres across the country.

Under his leadership and due to his strong belief in the ‘Scale through partnerships’ model, Bosch set up collaboration centres in 25 Universities and 250 colleges, trained 2,000 skill trainers and supported 100 young entrepreneurs who have successfully started their own skilling centres and are running these successfully. Bosch’s Skilling programs have won several awards at National level, including the FICCI CSR Award for Skill Development and NHRD Award for CSR Best Practices. Dr. Goel was given a special privilege to brief Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Dr. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, about Bosch’s skilling initiatives and his plans in the interest of nation building. A well-recognized Skilling Expert in India, Dr. Goel is currently an adviser to Bosch India as well as the National Skill Development Corporation, which works under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Govt of India. He is also a visiting Faculty at IIM, Nagpur.

Having served in the Indian Administrative Service, Shri Ram Mohan Mishra has overseen various institutions at District, State, and National levels, specializing in the areas of Police administration, Justice, Human Rights Protection, Law & Order, Commerce, Industry, Planning, Finance, Urban Development, Agriculture, Water Resources, Cooperatives, Social Justice, and Women & Child Development.

As Development Commissioner in the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, he introduced innovative business facilitation processes, focusing on women-led enterprises.

With a background in Geography and a gold medalist from Allahabad University, he also pursued Economics and Infrastructure Development at the Maxwell School of Syracuse and Harvard University, USA.

He has been associated with several non-profit institutions and is the founder of Governance Foundation and Tathagat Foundation. Beyond his professional endeavors, he holds a keen interest in Music, Yoga, and Meditation.

Shri Anil Bhardwaj is Secretary General of Federation of Indian Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME). He has worked extensively in the fields of international trade and SME development. He has advised or led several SME development projects supported by multilateral and bilateral donor agencies in India. Initially, he was involved in international trade and subsequently began working on SME issues at FISME. He is currently leading the SME development projects supported by prestigious international institutions.

Ms. Rajshree Paatil is Executive Director, Business Development with the Surya Group, Pune. Ms. Paatil is a renowned professional in the field of training & development and Administration. She is skilled in planning, organizing, and leading training programs and ensuring proper execution at all levels. Her areas of specialization include Goal Setting, Team Building, Motivational skills, Positive Thinking, Time Management, Leadership Qualities, Situational Leadership, Stress Management, Planning and Prioritizing, Conflict Management, Smart selling, Competitive Intelligence, Interpersonal Skills, Presentation Skills, Business Communication, Effective Communication & Mind Power. EDII intends to draw great learning from Ms. Paatil’s expertise.

Padma Shri Awardee-2013, Dr. Milind Kamble, a civil engineer by profession, is the Chairman of the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), a Pune-based non-profit community organization, which he founded to bring together entrepreneurs from among the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and to promote the culture of entrepreneurship among them. It is his passion to follow in the footsteps on Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar in promoting economic empowerment of Dalits. In 2003 he founded the SC/ST Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a first of its kind in history, as an umbrella organisation of entrepreneurs from these sections. Later, in 2005, he renamed it as the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Within a few years Dr. Kamble has brought DICCI into the national mainstream. In 2012, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) gave clearance to setting up a DICCI SME Fund which is aimed at providing Dalit entrepreneurs with requisite capital and managerial skills.

Mr. Shaji K V took over as Chairman, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on 07 December 2022. NABARD is the Government of India owned apex bank for agriculture and rural development and acts as a development bank, regulator of agriculture credit and Supervisor of Rural Financial Institutions in the country. Previously, he served as Deputy Managing Director of NABARD from 21 May 2020 to 06 December 2022.

Prior to joining NABARD, Mr. Shaji was associated with Canara Bank. His area of expertise includes Retail Banking, SME Banking and Corporate Banking in rural, urban and metro areas. Mr. Shaji has also handled banking coordination and policy matters for over 6 years as in-charge of State Level Bankers’ Committee, Kerala. He was instrumental in the merger of Syndicate Bank with Canara Bank. He also handled amalgamation of two Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to establish Kerala Gramin Bank.

A Post-Graduate in agriculture science, Mr. Shaji also holds a Post Graduate Degree in Management (PGDM) with specialisations in Public Policy and infrastructure finance from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. He is also a certified associate of the Indian Institute of Banking & Finance (IIBF) and holds a Diploma in Treasury, Investments and Risk Management.

Mr. Shaji currently serves as Chairman of subsidiaries of NABARD viz., M/s NABARD Consultancy Services Limited (NABCONS), M/s NABSanrakshan Trustee Company Private Limited, M/s NABVENTURES Limited and M/s NABFOUNDATION. He is also Chairman of the Governing Council of the Bankers Institute of Rural Development (BIRD) and a member of the Board of Directors of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).

As an industry leader, he was also Director of various organizations such as National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Canara HSBC OBC Insurance Company Ltd. and Canara Bank Securities Ltd.

Dr. Narain is an expert in SME policies and programs. His contributions towards fostering entrepreneurship and facilitating the growth of small industries in India, has been commendable. Dr. Narain has played a pivotal role in shaping the institution’s business strategy.

Ms. Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, GoI, has served Govt. of India in various capacities across the Ministries/ Departments for the past 25 years. Some of her important postings inter alia are Ministries of Finance, Housing & Urban Affairs and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) etc. During her service, she handled different subjects viz. Agriculture and Allied Sector in DoNER, externally aided projects for the NER, Pay related matters, Cadre review of All India Service (AIS), works related HR and Administration.

As Joint Secretary, she is in charge of implementation of various Schemes pertaining to Small and Medium Enterprises. In the Ministry, she also looks after the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), National Institute of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (NiMSME), which is CPSE and an Autonomous Organization. She also handles Media vertical which gives wide coverage of the Schemes/initiatives of the Ministry on all Social Media Platforms. ‘Insider’ which is a monthly magazine is also brought out which is shared with all Udyam Registration holders. For supporting the Women entrepreneurs, WEC has been set up to handhold women. In addition, she also looks after coordination vertical in the Ministry which handles Vision India @2047, Toy Manufacturers Hub, Swachhta Campaign. She is also Director in the Board of Autonomous Bodies.

Shri A. S. Paul is a seasoned banker, with rich experience of more than 28 years in various capacities in State Bank of India. He is a Postgraduate from Allahabad University.

He has worked in various positions in the bank, such as; Branch Manager of District Headquarter branches, Regional and Network Head. He has also had a stint abroad at the Hong Kong branch of SBI.

He currently occupies the position of CGM (SME & SCF) at SBI Corporate Centre, Mumbai, handling the SME portfolio of around Rs 3.34 trillion of the Bank.

Shri Dinesh Singh Rawat is a Chartered Financial Analyst, having more than 30 years of rich experience with banking sector. He has been instrumental in Digitalizing Banking Department of IDBI Bank and he has also streered the Retail Recovery & Credit Monitoring Group for IDBI Bank.

Shri Rakesh Sharma, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of IDBI Bank Limited has vast experience in banking spanning over three decades. Before joining IDBI Bank, Shri Sharma served as MD & CEO of Canara Bank and Lakshmi Vilas Bank. Shri Sharma began his career in State Bank of India and worked in various areas such as retail and wholesale banking, corporate credit, international banking, asset liability management, loan syndication, industrial and human resources over his tenure.