Board of Directors

He was the founding Chairman of Retailers Association of India. He is the first Asian retailer to be inducted into the World Retail Hall of Fame in 2008. Recently, he was awarded with the prestigious NCPEDP – Helen Keller Award, for creating livelihood opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and was recognised as a Change Maker at the SABERA Awards. He is also an Ashoka Fellow.

An alumnus of the London Business School, Ravi is an active contributor to the industry through premier forums, such as the Indian Green Building Council, where he served as the Chairman (Mumbai Chapter) and pushed for the construction of green buildings, back in 2007.

He was member of Board of Trade, Ministry of Industries and Finance and the World Economic Forum. He has also been honored with the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award – 2020 for the Energy, Real Estate, and Infrastructure category along with his brother, Neel Raheja. He plays a key role in KRC group’s philanthropic initiatives through K. Raheja Corp Foundation, Sadhana Education Society, and S. L. Raheja Hospital.

A respected name in the Corporate World, Neel chairs several committees that shape key industry developments. He is the Chairman of CII-National Committee on Real Estate and Housing, Chairman – India Chapter of APREA, Vice President – West, NAREDCO India and Advisory Board Member – SCAI. Neel has been appointed by the Govt. of India to suggest changes in the Special Economic Zone policy and invited to be a member of ‘Champions of Change’, by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

He is a member of B20, the official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community. He has also been invited to serve as a member of the prestigious ‘India-Australia CEO’s forum’ constituted by Government of India. He has been awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award – 2020 for the Energy, Real Estate and Infrastructure category along with his brother, Mr. Ravi Raheja.

Neel plays an active role in the Group’s philanthropic initiatives through K. Raheja Corp Foundation, Sadhana Education Society and S. L. Raheja Hospital. He also drives the Group’s growth through Green Building initiatives in sustainable development.

Neel’s expertise lies in building growth through effective trouble shooting and leading through people management, virtues which are instrumental in fortifying the well-curated business empire.

He has been credited with Grey’s growth in the region. His highly regarded business acumen has led to numerous acquisitions by the Grey network in various countries, such as China, India and Korea, among others. He has also expanded Grey’s presence to Vietnam, Nigeria and Ghana.

He is currently driving business strategy & transformation, managing risks, capital allocations, new investments, mergers and acquisitions of Kirloskar Group led by Atul Kirloskar and Rahul Kirloskar. He mentors some members of the 5th generation of the Kirloskar Family and has been instrumental in shaping the Family Constitution & Succession Planning of this arm of the Kirloskar Group. Mahesh sits on the board of Kirloskar Group companies and is the Non-Independent Director of Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd., Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Ltd., Kirloskar Proprietary Ltd., Kirloskar Pneumatic Company Ltd. and Arka Financial Holdings Pvt. Ltd. He is also the Nominee Director and Chairman on the board of Arka Fincap Ltd., the NBFC arm of Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. Mahesh is an Independent Director on the Board of ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems Ltd. and also chairs the Audit committee.

Mahesh’s belief in the emerging India growth story and corporate India’s global aspiration led him to join Actis, a long standing leading private equity fund as a Partner for Industrial and Healthcare investments. Prior to joining Actis, he was a Partner at 3i, another private equity fund for whom he was a Global Lead Partner for healthcare investing. Before 3i, Mahesh had a long stint of 13 years + at Enam, one of the leading investment banks in India, where he held multiple roles and in the last five years there, he was the Co-head of Investment Banking division. Mahesh holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Mumbai and is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Mahesh is a relationship builder with strong communication and inter-personal skills. He has an extensive network in several sectors, and is well-known and well regarded among corporates, professional, legal and accounting firms, media and select regulatory bodies.

Prior to that Kavi served as the Managing Director at Pepe Jeans India for a period of 6 years and managed the transition of company from a JV to a 100% subsidiary of Pepe Jeans Global. Kavi was instrumental in making Pepe Jeans as an aspirational and profitable denim brand.

Kavi was a co-founder in Zovi.Com, a start-up funded by Tiger Global & Saif Partners.

Economic Times has recognised him with the Inspiring CEO Award 2022 within the retail and lifestyle segment.

Kavi is a Post Graduate Diploma holder from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, who started his retail career with ABFRL. He started there with Allen Solly, before heading their Middle East Business. Kavi has been part of the Senior Leadership from then and has worked in diverse retail companies such as Tommy Hilfiger, United Colors Of Benetton, Pepe Jeans and House Of Anita Dongre. He has total work experience of more than 24 years.

He worked briefly for IBM Global Services before turning entrepreneur (along with 7 other partners) to launch brands such as Scullers, Indigo Nation, and Urban Yoga for Indus-League Clothing (acquired by Future Group). Arun moved to Reliance Retail in 2006 as a Director and CEO of Reliance Trends and is credited with building India’s largest Fashion retail chain, Reliance Trends, from concept to ~100 stores by 2012. He was also a member of the Executive Council, Reliance Retail and Director of Vision Express, a JV between Reliance and Grand Vision, UK. He turned entrepreneur once again in 2012 to start India’s earliest fashion e-commerce business as Co-founder and CEO of Fashionara.com with investments from Lightspeed and Helion ventures. He then joined Amazon India in 2016 as Head of Amazon Fashion and led the growth of this business to $ 2+ billion. After that, Arun headed Ola Electric as SVP & Global Business Head and was also the CEO of Ola Cars until August, 2022. Arun now mentors/advises startups.

Smita joined Westlife as the marketing lead in 1998 and spearheaded some of the most impactful campaigns for the brand. She was integral in conceiving campaigns such as “McDonald’s main hai kuch baat” and “Aap ke zamane mein baap ke zamane ke daam” that laid the growth foundation for the brand in the country. She eventually worked across functions including strategy, operations and HR, before she was given reins of the company as the MD.

Smita’s biggest strength lies in her astute understanding of commerce and customers alike. Under her leadership, McDonald’s has achieved many key milestones including reaching the INR 1000 cr revenue mark, launching McCafé, bringing the brave concept of Experience of The Future (EOTF) restaurants to India and launching the innovative, new service – On the Go on their McDelivery app during the pandemic. This exemplary growth path has also been recognized by McDonald’s Corporation that awarded HRPL the ‘Top of the Charts’ honour. The award recognized West and South India as the best performing market in Asia – yet another strong testimony to Smita’s vision and leadership.

A commerce graduate from Sydenham College, Mumbai, Smita has completed an 18-week executive management program from Harvard Business School, Boston. She has also undergone a rigorous Marketing and Restaurant Leadership program at the Hamburger University, USA.

She was featured in the Forbes Asia’s Power Businesswomen list. This list included only 25 women from across the Asia-Pacific region of which only four Indian women entrepreneurs made it to the list!  This coveted recognition is one big feather in her hat. She was also recently featured in the Most Powerful Women list by Business Today and was on the Cover of their magazine’s October issue.

Ashish started his professional journey after completing his MBA specialising in Marketing in 1997. In 1999, he gave in to his passion for entrepreneurship and founded Big Tree Entertainment.

In 2007, seeing the growth in multiplexes and the increased credit and debit card penetration in the country, Ashish and his team launched BookMyShow as we know it today. While passionately driving his model for BookMyShow, he brought on board believing investors like TPG Growth, Stripes Group, SAIF Partners, Accel and Network 18 (Reliance). BookMyShow has also ventured into international territories and has expanded its operations to Dubai, Indonesia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

 

While BookMyShow embodies the true spirit of entrepreneurship and is a classic example of how a simple idea can go a long way in resolving a pertinent problem, Ashish also continues to invest his energies in creating and nurturing the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs, both within the organization and outside of it.

 

BookMyShow also gives back to the society through BookASmile, the charity initiative of the organization. Since its inception, BookASmile through the power of Re. 1 has positively impacted millions of lives across the country and continues to generate smiles within the lesser fortunate sections of the society.

Ashish believes in balance and indulges in a couple of leisure activities that help him stay focused, including sailing. The BookMyShow captain cool considers the sea as a great leveler. He sails every week and participates in sailing competitions regularly along with his crew. Apart from being out at sea, Ashish is also drawn to the philosophy of Vedanta.

Purvi helps create business opportunities and competitive advantage via Strategic HR management. She has helped several businesses effectively cultivate talent engagement through advanced leadership processes and implementation in impacting business performance and productivity.