India Retail Forum

Speakers Profile 2010

ANCHORS’ Profile
	ANISH TRIVEDI CHAIRMAN & MD, BANYAN TREE COMMUNICATIONS Anish Trivedi is Chairman & Managing Director of Banyan Tree Communications, one of India’s largest independent radio and specialised audio production companies. Anish is a former partner at the US investment banking firm, Oppenheimer & Co. He has been an anchor for CNBC and CNN, hosted the breakfast show on GO 92.5 FM, and has been considered one of the ten most influential people in radio today. He writes for a number of publications, including as Contributing Editor to GQ. His first novel, “Call Me Dan”, published by Penguin, was released earlier this

	JAYANT KOCHAR MD, GO FISH RETAIL SOLUTIONS Jayant Kochar is one of the pioneers of organised retailing in India, having successfully launched the French lifestyle brand Lacoste in India over 15 years ago. He also conceptualized and created the iconic chain of Espresso Bars - BARISTA. As the head of GO FISH, the country’s leading specialized retail consultancy, he has guided the entry of new retailers, and also helped many leading retail brands improve their performance. He shares his experience and expertise through unusual and exciting insights, which have made him one of the most sought after speakers at retail events in India and abroad.

	SHIVNATH THUKRAL GROUP PRESIDENT, CORPORATE BRANDING & STRATEGIC INITIATIVES, ESSAR GROUP Shivnath Thukral is the group president, corporate branding & strategic initiatives at the Essar Group and works directly with the PDs and CEOs on marketing strategies and image-building initiatives. He is the key link for the group to put together a strategy that reaches out to key investors, stakeholders and the public with ideal positioning for the group and its brand. He is a veteran journalist who spent 14 years in India’s premier media house NDTV and at the end was group business editor & advisor-strategy with NDTV.
SPEAKERS’ Profile
	AJAY BAIJAL PRESIDENT & CE, CDIT (CONSUMER DURABLES, IT&TELECOM), RELIANCE RETAIL Ajay Baijal is President and Chief Executive- CDIT (Consumer Durables, IT & Telecom) at Reliance Retail Limited. Prior to this, he was with Reliance Communication Ltd. He was a member of the Leadership team of the Wireless business and was Group Head of Sales. Prior to this, he was the Chief Operating Officer of the Consumer Electronics Business Group of BPL Ltd. He was also a member of the CII National Committee on e-commerce.Before joining BPL, Ajay was Vice President - Luggage in Blow Plast Ltd. Ajay has completed his PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad and MSc. Physics from Delhi University.

	AJAY KAUL CEO, JUBILANT FOODS Ajay, a B.Tech from IIT Delhi and MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur, has a career spanning 20 years, working in industries like Credit Cards, Airline, Express Distribution and Logistics, all within the umbrella of Service. Kaul joined Domino’s Pizza in February, 2005 from TNT Indonesia, where he was the Country Head of TNT Express for three years. He started his career with American Express TRS in 1989 and spent six years there.

	AJAY KELKAR COO, HANSA CEQUITY Ajay Kelkar is the Chief Operating Officer of Hansa Cequity, an IT-enabled customer experience management company. Hansa Cequity focuses on Analytics and technology based Marketing and partners companies in the Banking, Retail and other sectors, to enable them to market more efficiently. Hansa Cequity works closely with leading department stores & grocery chains in India. Ajay was previously the Head of Marketing at Shoppers Stop and HDFC Bank. He has a combined business experience of over 19 years across Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Shoppers Stop and HDFC Bank.

	AJIT JOSHI MD & CEO, INFINITI RETAIL LTD. Ajit Joshi has been a part of Retail and Hospitality industry both in India and internationally for over 20 years, specialising in business management, operations strategy, channel development and property management. Ajit has handled a number of portfolios, such as Spotless Services, Orion Capital Pvt. Ltd., ITC Hotels Ltd. and Les Roches, apart from being the Project Manager at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He was working with Shopper’s Stop as Vice President, Operation prior to joining Infiniti Retail Ltd. An MBA from the Melbourne Business School, Ajit studied at Cornell University, and did his Hotel Management from Les Roches-Bluches, Switzerland and from Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai.

	AJOY SHAH DGM, JK TYRE Ajoy Shah, Deputy General Manager (Passenger Tyres), JK Tyre, an INR 5000 crore company, has over 30 years of experience in the traditional tyre industry. Currently he is taking care of marketing of passenger car tyre business for the market and brand building initiatives of JK Tyre along with Motorsport and Corporate Communication and is responsible for national retail chain of franchised outlets branded as JK Tyre Steel Wheels.

	AKHIL CHATURVEDI DIRECTOR, PROVOGUE (INDIA) LTD. Akhil Chaturvedi has been leading all retail activities of Provogue and Promart businesses, driving future expansion plans, sales and operating strategies and other retail business development initiatives. His profound knowledge together with an eye for detail has been instrumental in driving new business initiatives for the group. His learnings and rich experience have provided a vital input to the overall growth of the company.

	ALOK BHARADWAJ SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CANON INDIA Alok Bharadwaj is the senior vice president of Canon in India responsible for sales, marketing, PR, corporate communications and business strategy. He has led Canon’s exponential growth and market leadership in India. He is the vice president of the Executive council of MAIT and a member of CII National Committees. He has been a recipient of various industry level recognitions like “Best CMO Award India” etc. Prior to Canon, Alok worked in Motorola, Usha International and Voltas. Alok is an MBA from FMS, New Delhi and an alumni of Executive Program of IMD Lausanne.

	AMIT BAGARIA CHAIRMAN & CEO, ASIPAC GROUP Amit Bagaria is founder-chairman of award winning Asipac Projects, India’s leading mall planning and leasing consultant, which has conceptualised and marketed six of India’s 15 largest malls; Asipac Mall Services, a mall management company; and Arus Retail, which owns Men and boyS, India’s first retail chain exclusively selling men’s cosmetics, skincare & hair care products and fragrances. Amit has been a speaker or anchor at many Indian and global events, co-authored a college textbook on planning and has published several articles on malls, retail, real estate and infrastructure.

	ANAND MEHTA DIRECTOR, RETAIL VERTICAL, MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, ASIA PACIFIC REGION Anand brings with him a collective 15 years of retail experience within the Asia Pacific region, which includes hands-on operational familiarity of the Singapore, Malaysian and Australian markets and significant insight into ASEAN, China, Japan and Korea. A resident of Australia, he relocated to Singapore from Sydney in 2001 as General Manager for one of Singapore’s largest retail companies and subsequently led its entry into the Malaysian market as well. Anand has also been actively involved with senior management in two of the region’s largest privately-held retailers.

	ANDY CAMPBELL CHIEF BRAND OFFICER, RELIANCE RETAIL Andy has recently joined Reliance Retail, bringing over 30 years of experience in developing, building and delivering brands across many retail channels. He has worked as a strategic consultant covering brand marketing, business planning and implementation management and has held senior roles across store design, merchandising and operational functions. He has worked in the UK, USA and South America and more recently in Thailand, where he was responsible for the Tesco Lotus brand plan, developing their brand strategy and multi-format plan for small stores to shopping malls and department stores.

	ANSHUMAN SINGH MD & CEO, FUTURE SUPPLY CHAINS SOLUTIONS LTD. Anshuman Singh, a mechanical engineer and an MBA, is the MD & CEO of Future Supply Chain Solutions Limited - India’s largest consumer supply chain company. In a career spanning over 17 years, he has successfully created and led organisations in the field of retail as well as supply chain and logistics. Prior to his current assignment, Anshuman was the director and CEO of Welspun Retail Ltd. He has earlier worked in various organisations of repute like Grasim, H&R Johnson and Bombay Dyeing. Anshuman was recognised by Business Today (in 2008) as one of India’s Hottest Young Executives in the corporate world. He is a member of several Retail committees and Logistics committees of various management bodies such as CII and FICCI. www.indiaretailforum.in

	ANSHUL JAIN CEO, DTZ Anshul has over 14 years of international real estate experience and has worked across Europe and Asia. His vast experience in the real estate sector includes financial advisory on infrastructure projects, private equity investments, corporate services & portfolio advisory including lease acquisition & disposals. Anshul has completed his Master’s in Business Administration from IMD Lausanne, Switzerland and has acquired Masters in Finance from University of Delhi.

	ANSHUMAN MAGAZINE CHAIRMAN & MD, CB RICHARD ELLIS (CBRE) Anshuman was instrumental in setting up operations for the CBRE practice in the Indian subcontinent in 1994. In his current role, Anshuman has led the organisation with a consistent and undivided focus, resulting in CBRE emerging among the largest real estate service provider in India with over 1900 professionals and offices in all the major metros in the country. He has been involved in some of the largest and most prestigious advisory assignments in the post-liberalisation era in India. During this time he has assumed the lead role in assisting a large number of multinational corporates to establish their operations in India. Under his guidance, CBRE has successfully provided effective real estate solutions for a diverse range of projects across India.

	ANUJ PURI CHAIRMAN & COUNTRY HEAD, JONES LANG LASALLE Anuj Puri oversees a team of over 3300 staff in 10 cities across India. With over 18 years of experience ranging from feasibility studies and program requirement derivation to fund and investor sourcing, Anuj has expertise in planning, undertaking demand assessment studies and transactional services including marketing strategies based on technical real estate market analysis.

	ANURAG RAJPAL VP, APPAREL BRANDS, SPENCER’S RETAIL Anurag Rajpal, Vice President – Apparel Brands, Spencer’s Retail, is instrumental in creating the branded apparel vertical at Spencer’s Retail, which has brands like Beverly Hills Polo Club, Ladybird Kids, Ecko Unltd & Ecko Red. All these brands have been launched in the Indian market and have caught the fancy of trade & consumers alike. Anurag comes with a rich retail and product management experience of having worked with industry pioneers like Madura Garments, Benetton and Reebok India over his career span. Anurag is a Textile Technologist by education and lists innovation as the key driver of professional growth.

	ARIF I SHEIKH PRESIDENT RETAIL, AIPL Arif is a retail executive with over 26 years of international retail experience of which the last 14 years have been as Director/ CEO/President of international retail chains and shopping centres. An MBA from UK, MEP (IIM-A) Arif has extensive knowledge of global real estate and retail markets. Having won some of the most coveted laurels in the industry, like ‘Excellence in leadership’ award from ‘Global Retail Forum’, and the much acclaimed ‘Dubai Shopping Festival’ Best Retail Chain/CEO award, Design Award 2006, Asia Retail Congress Best Speaker Award 2008, Arif has a history of steering business fundamentals that stimulate revenue and customer growth and has consistently guided start-ups to multimillion dollar performers through unparalleled growth.

	ARPITA MITTAL CEO, HELEN O’ GRADY Arpita holds a Masters in English literature and was a lecturer for ten years in colleges in Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai. She has worked as a language consultant at the Embassies of Canada and Sweden. She has also been associated with Walt Disney India as a Language ad Production Supervisor. She is passionate about bringing a change in the methods of teaching for Indian children. Helen O’Grady Drama Academy was launched to enhance the self-confidence, communication skills and self esteem of students using the medium of Drama in fun filled classes. She has successfully expanded Helen O’Grady Drama Academy to all parts of the country.

	ARTI MEHTA CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, ESSAR TELECOM RETAIL Arti Mehta, currently with Essar Telecom, was with Worldspace radio before this. Her earlier assignments at Reliance Infocom, Bharti Enterprises, The Hindustan Times, Citi Financial, American Express, Living Media and Lakme have given her a rich and varied understanding of the consumer and helped her shape successful marketing and communication strategies, with a special focus on experiential marketing. Afte having completed her Bachelors degree in Commerce from Ness Wadia College, Pune, Arti did her MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Bombay, with specialisation in Marketing.