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.

From 2006 to 2011, he was CEO of Enam Securities, a leading Indian investment bank. He led its $ 400 million merger in 2011 with Axis Bank to create Axis Capital, which he led as MD & CEO until the end of 2013. He then served as a Board member till 2018. Under his leadership, Enam/Axis mobilised ~25% of all equity funds raised in India and were the house banker to several leading Indian business groups.

From 2014 to 2016, he served as Chairman of TPG Growth in India and then till 2019 as Senior Advisor to TPG Group, one of the world’s largest private equity institutions.

He currently serves as independent director on the boards of listed companies that include Westlife Foodworld (McDonald’s), Shoppers Stop, Laxmi Organic, Landmark Cars and Welspun Corp.

Mr. Chokhani is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. He has served as a member of SEBI’s Alternative Investment Promotion Advisory Committee and also as Co-Chairman of the Capital Markets Committee at the IMC. He has been a visiting faculty member at IIM-Kozhikode and has served on the International Alumni Board and scholarship panels of the London Business School.

He is a sought after speaker on CNBC, ET Now and other business/educational events.

He practices Vipassana meditation and is also a talented and trained singer. He and his wife enjoy travel, reading, theatre, music, art and fashion, cricket and tennis. His Wharton-educated son oversees the family’s international investment portfolio.

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.