VishvendraChakravarthy ( Popularly known as Chucky among friends ) is currently working as a Senior Trader at Bunge SA, Geneva, Switzerland - a multinational dealing in agri-commodities and fertilisers.Prior to this, he has held the position of Senior Commodity Trader at Al Ghurair Foods and has headed the Agricultural Division at Tradeline LLC. He has his Master’s degree in International Business from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi (1988-1990) and has graduated from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai in Chemical Technology.
He is known for his strategic mind and excellent analytical skills. Chucky currently stays in Geneva with his wife, Chakravarthy Bendapudi Gauri who was his batchmate in the MPIB program at IIFT, and two daughters.
SUBRAHMANYAM AVS (MPIB \'89)
His MPIB degree’s number reads “000001”. He laughs, saying, “that accident of roll numbers and batch - is really my only claim to fame”. Of course that is being too modest.
AVS, or more often - Subbu, as he is fondly known amongst his professional peer group, batch mates & contemporaries, has been a dynamic professional with brilliant ideas.
After 20 years of working with household name FMCG brands in India and elsewhere, AVS is presently setting up and pursuing ventures which are close to his heart - as Managing Director of Niche Ventures Pvt Ltd., as well as CEO at Planet NRI.
“I have been an expatriate NRI several times, in various countries for long enough. I have experienced first-hand that expatriate NRIs miss India in many ways - by being away from India's hustle and bustle, the extended family, the language and culture, the Bollywood and music- in so many different ways. One key area of missing India is by not having adequate access to Indian food and food products that form an essential part of every Indian's life and kitchen.
His earlier assignments involved launching brands and businesses in various countries and include the roles of:
* Country Manager at Britannia Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Colombo
* DGM - Marketing at Strategic Food International Co. LLC, Dubai
* Export Marketing Manager at Pacific Inter, Kuala Lumpur
* Export Manager at Heinz India, Mumbai
* Deputy Manager at Essar World Trade Ltd, Mumbai, Moscow
One of the few to immediately register at
www.IIFTian.com soon as its existence became known to him, Subbu is lavish is praising this unique online platform :
I don’t need to talk about the criticality of networking – that is a given. Platforms such as Linkedin help us network. With over a 1000 members at IIFTian.com, I find it one of the key networking sites I log in to EVERYDAY. (It is my home page by rotation every Wednesday).It would be silly to be an alumni ofIIFT and not leverage the network with other IIFTians. The site has some way to go, undoubtedly, but I find many sections in it useful to post opportunities, ask clarifications, locate people.
He is a rare combination of being a task master with a people-oriented approach and loves to lead by example.
He specialises in Marketing, Exports & Franchising.
Here’s saluting the "entrepreneurial spirit" of IIFTians!
SN VENKAT (PGDIT\'85)
Assistant Director, Office of Career Services Singapore Management University, Singapore
In his current role, Mr. Venkat has a special focus on overseas internship and career opportunities for SMU students in a region spanning India, Middle East and ASEAN. He is also a trained career counselor and has over 500 students from India and other ASEAN countries under his care.
He has diversified experience in Global Marketing of Consumer products for over 17 years. He has an in depth knowledge and understanding of third world trade, especially between Asia, South America and Africa. He has also marketed Asian products in Europe, UK, and USA.
Prior to joining SMU he has held senior management positions in diverse range of businesses such as International Trading, E-Commerce, IT Services, and consulting.
He looks forward to help the next generation of students in his university through the Campus to Corporate transition process, and get them ready for the globalised world.
Venkat has a MSc (Chem) degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (1984), Delhi and PGDIT from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (1985), New Delhi. He also studied E-Commerce Management at UC Berkeley, USA.
SK ROONGTA (PGDP \'72)
Mr. S.K. Roongta is Chairman, Steel Authority of India Ltd. since August 2006. An engineering graduate from BITS, Pilani and a PG Diploma holder in International Trade from the PGDP 1972 batch of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi, Mr. Roongta started his career in 1972 as a marketing executive in SAIL. He held several vital positions in the marketing division of the company before being elevated to the SAIL Board as Director (Commercial) in 2004. He also headed HR, Corporate Planning and Raw Materials Division functions of the company as Director (Personnel).
PGDP '89 passout from IIFT, Mr. Sanjeev Asthana has been given the mandate to start from scratch an agri supply chain business for Reliance Retail which will connect the ‘farm to fork’ and provide impetus to rural economy of India.
This challenging assignment will see him guiding wide range of business initiatives across Rural Financial Services, Farm Inputs, Rural Merchandising, Farm Output Sourcing and Supply Chain of Fruits & Vegetables, grains, oils, plantations, poultry, sugar, salt with an expected turnover of $10 billion by year 2010.
Prior to Joining Reliance Mr. Asthana was Director on the Board of Cargill India and was heading the Grains & Oilseeds business of Cargill in India. He has also worked with UP Dairy Federation, STC, Britannia and ITC
He has a varied global experience which includes assignments with ITC in Romania to set up operations, Indonesia as their Country Head and with Cargill at their Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore.
He took up the challenge to set up an independent business for Cargill in India in 1998. He was responsible for setting the direction and providing the leadership to steer Cargill through its ambitious expansion and growth plans in India. At the decision making position in the Cargill, first MNC to start domestic trading at the pan India basis. Under his able leadership Cargill grew as major force in grain handling in country, with dominant presence in food grains, feed grains, and oilseeds. He was instrumental in establishing a world class supply chain and giving strategic direction to Cargill in India.
From negligible volumes in 1998, Cargill today handles 500,000 of wheat, 500,000 tones of Soya meal, 200,000 corn, bajra and other feed grains. They exported around 2.5 million tones of food grains in 2001-03. Business growth was more than 100% every year with profitability higher than any other player in the same industry.
Game Changers
Sathi Krishi Samadhan Kendra an ambitious band end integration network was launched which has village level reach in MP, UP and Rajasthan. This platform helped farmers in disintermediation and better price discovery of their produce. The Zero investment model was value creating venture for Corporation (Farmer Reach and better quality), Franchise since he gained good returns at very low investment, village youth (employment was generate at local level) and farmer (Better price realization). This network helped Cargill to dominate the wheat markets.
Supply chain of Fruits & Vegetables, Dairy, staples and processed meat is an unexplored territory, and the linkage of these supplies to Retail stores is even a bigger task. Under his leadership Reliance Retail is not only integrating this business but at a scale not imagined by anybody in this country.
The Reliance Retail Agri and food supply chain project envisions revolutionizing the entire farm economy by setting up of Rural Business Hubs (RBH) which would meet the farm input, consumer goods, and basic services needs of the rural households. The RBH would also provide a platform for output sales at market driven prices thus enabling greater pie of consumer spend to reach farmer level. RBH would generate employment opportunities at the grass root level. This would result in not only bringing economic prosperity but also better quality of life
Reliance Retail has a target of achieving turnover of 1000,000 crores by year 2010. Out of this 40% will come from sales of food products. He took up the task to create a network which will integrate the food chain of grains, oils fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat products which will efficiently service the requirement of reliance retail.
This will be the biggest network of its kind any where in the world, creating value for stakeholders at all levels.
RS SOMASEKHARA SARMA (MPIB \'91)
Mr. Som Sarma, Global IT Services Head, 3i Infotech, is based in London and responsible for expanding the global services business portfolio at 3i Infotech. Mr. Sarma joins 3i Infotech from Satyam (now Mahindra Satyam) where he was the Senior Vice President and Head (UK & Ireland). He provided significant impetus to Satyam’s foray into multiple industry verticals in that region. He was also instrumental for gaining marquee customers through differentiated service lines, always believing in driving growth from the front. With prior global experience beyond IT - in Consulting, Manufacturing, Retail & CPG – he has been able to relate closely to the business needs of customer organizations, helping them to leverage information technology to their advantage. Mr Sarma holds an MBA from London Business School (1993-95), and an International Business masters degree from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (1989-91). He is a University Medal holder in Mechanical Engineering (1986). An active member of the London Business School Alumni network., Mr Sarma is regularly invited by Gartner, Forrester and various industry groups to share his views on the direction of IT industry and outsourcing.
RASHESH SHAH (PGDP \'85)
Rashesh Shah is not your typical Gujarati businessman. He was among the first in his family to study in an English-medium school at a time when his elder cousins and siblings were in Gujarati-medium ones.
He didn’t just step into his father’s business — manufacturing and selling school exercise notebooks — as all good conservative Gujarati boys tend to. He went on to study higher and higher (he followed a BSc in statistics with a one-year diploma from the PGDP 1985 batch of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and then a two-year MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad), something very few hard-core Gujarati business families consider worthwhile.
Then, he decided to marry Vidya, a Kannadiga girl of his choice, at a time when marrying even a Gujarati outside your own small community was frowned upon. And if all that wasn’t enough, Shah convinced his father to mortgage their Peddar Road house in the mid-1990s, to raise seed capital for his fledgling firm, Edelweiss, a step that’s brazen enough to give many a conservative Gujarati nothing less than a coronary attack.
MILIND PANT (MPIB\'93)
Milind Pant, MPIB '93 batch alumnus of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) became President of Global Brand Building for Yum! Brands in February 2009, maintaining his position as Chief Marketing Officer for the Company’s international division, Yum! Restaurants International. Mr. Pant also served as Global Chief Concept Officer for Yum! Brands and President for TacoBell International for nearly four years. Before joining the Company, Mr. Pant was part of Reebok International where he worked for 10 years in various marketing capacities including Global Chief Marketing Officer.During this time, Reebok was the winner of two Golden Lion awards at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999 and 2003, considered by some to be the highest honor in advertising, and was also recognized as the Interactive Marketer of the Year by Adweek magazine in 2003. Mr. Pant has also worked at PepsiCo and spent 15 years with Unilever in India and the United Kingdom.
MANU SAWHNEY (MPIB \'93)
Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports
Manu Sawhney was appointed as the Managing Director of ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) in September 2007 and is based in Singapore. He reports to ESPN STAR Sports’ board of directors. Manu has been with ESPN STAR Sports since its inception in 1996 and has worked in various capacities. Starting as the Head of Marketing in India, Manu went on to supervise various other functions including Affiliate Sales & Business Development and then took on the responsibility of running the India operations as Managing Director from 1999 to 2003.
Manu holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani, India and has done his Masters in International Business from the reputed Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi, India.
An avid golfer, Manu lives with his wife, son and daughter in Singapore.
MANAV GARG (MPIB \'98)
Manav Garg is the CEO and Founder of Eka Software Solutions. Besides the overall responsibility of managing Eka, Manav oversees the areas of business strategy and corporate finance.
Manav founded Eka after a brief stint as a trader with a large global commodity trading house. It was during his trading days that he saw the deficiencies in traditional trading and risk management software. Realizing the market opportunity, and combining this with his passion for technology, Manav setup Eka with venture capital funding.
The first few years of organizational building at Eka were an invaluable experience, helping him gain deep and unique insights into all aspects of the business, and the needs of customers across the globe. Today, with Eka having shown significant growth in revenues, profitability, customer base and employees, Manav provides leadership and overall direction in such strategic areas as talent management, product direction and growth strategy. He constantly strives to achieve ever higher levels of organizational excellence and customer satisfaction by encouraging responsibility and accountability at all levels.
Born in 1974, Manav graduated as an engineer from REC (Regional Engineering College) Jalandhar, and followed this by an MBA from IIFT (Indian Institute of Foreign Trade), Delhi. He was recently awarded the Star Entrepreneur Award for 2008-09 at the 2nd Indira International India Innovation Summit.
JASPREET BINDRA (MPIB \'94)
Mr Jaspreet Bindra is currently the Regional Director - Entertainment and Devices + Retail for Microsoft, India. This includes retailing of XBox, Gaming, Office, Windows, Hardware, etc. He has served as the Country Manager of Online Services for Microsoft, India (MSN, Services, Search, Ad Platform, Mobile).
He has spent a large part of his career in Tata Adminsitrative Services, where he worked as the GM - Postpaid Mobile Business for Tata Indicom. He also spent 6 months as a Principal with PRTM.
Mr Bindra was also a part of a startup - Baazee.com which is now called EBay India.
He has been a National Champion in Business Quizzing thrice and is a voracious reader. He graduated from IIFT in 1994.
DINESH JAIN (PGDP \'86)
Dinesh Jain, CEO of Zee Turner Ltd., plays a pivotal role in giving a strategic direction to company's business and leads the team to realize the vision of the company.
A post graduate in International business from Indian Institute of Foreign trade and GAMP from ISB & Kellogg School of Management, he has over 21 years of experience and has served several sales and marketing positions in a range of categories from media to FMCG and Lifestyle. His prior experience includes serving for ABP, Remy Cointreau and Unilever.
An avid reader of non fiction, he also loves to travel and explore the mysteries of the cultures.
CHANDAN CHATTERJEE (MPIB\'90)
Chandan is a global executive with nearly 20 years of work experience; 15 of
which he has spent in Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks in Merger Integration, Strategy, Marketing, Business Development & Sales. A change leader, whose strategic vision is well balanced with a strong track record in operations and execution across various geographies and portfolios; he has worked in Finland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, India, UK and Malaysia.
Chandan is the Head of Sales of NE in Nokia Siemens Networks (revenue 14.4 b
€ annualised for 2008), managing a P&L of €1.4b ( 2008). His sales responsibility includes a territory of 38 countries covering the Nordics, Russia, Turkey & erstwhile CIS countries. Prior to this assignment , he was head of special projects reporting to the CEO of NSN.
Before joining Nokia Siemens Networks, Chandan held various management
positions in Nokia. He started his career as a Management Trainee with the Tata
group in India and later was the Marketing Manager in ITC Ltd.
Chandan holds a Master’s degree in International Business from the Indian
Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi and Bachelor of Engineering from the
National Institute of Technology, Allahabad. He was awarded the commonwealth
Chevening scholarship in 1998 and holds diploma from LBS.
Featured Alumni
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