India Chapter Board Members

S. Sriniwasan (Srini) has been with the Kotak Group since 1993 and currently heads KIAL.

Srini established one of India’s first Real Estate funds in 2005 and steered the growth of the business to raise and invest USD1.8bn. Srini also oversees Kotak Private Equity, Kotak Infrastructure Funds, Kotak Special Situations Fund and Kotak Listed Strategies. Overall, KIAL has raised about USD4.06bn in funds across these asset classes.

Prior to KIAL, he was a part of Kotak’s investment banking joint venture with Goldman Sachs since inception in 1995. As co-head of Kotak Investment Banking till 2005, Srini advised leading domestic and international companies on capital raising, M&A and strategic divestitures.

Srini is a member of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) committee for policy initiatives on Foreign Direct Investment and REITs and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) subcommittee on Capital Markets. He also serves as Chairman for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), South Asia Valuation Professional Group Board. He is also Co-chairman of APREA India Chapter and a member of the Governing Council of Global Real Estate Institute (GRI) – India Chapter. He is a Member of the Executive Committee at the Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (IVCA) and a Member of the Private Credit Council at EMPEA.

With a prolific career spanning over 35 years, Mr. Sriram Khattar has executed leadership responsibilities in both - group corporate level as well as business head positions. Currently, as the Managing Director of the Rental Business of DLF Group, he manages and is responsible for the rental portfolio for the largest real estate developer in India. Mr. Khattar provides strategic direction and leadership to the overall rental portfolio of about 35 million sq. ft. office space and 4 million sq. ft. retail space across the country. He has been instrumental in creating an integrated business model, bringing together a motivated team committed to creating global benchmarks in safety, sustainability, ESG and customer centricity across the Offices and Retail Rental portfolio of DLF Group. Mr. Khattar has held numerous senior leadership roles with reputed organizations like ITC (India and Singapore), Escorts and Ferguson Consulting. Mr. Khattar is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a batch topper from the Hindu College, Delhi University.

Ms Karnad is a post graduate in Economics and Law. She is a Parvin Fellow, Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs, Princeton University. She brings with her rich experience and enormous knowledge of the mortgage sector, having been associated with real estate & mortgage industry in India for over 40 years.

Ms. Renu Sud Karnad joined HDFC Ltd. in 1978. She was inducted onto its Board in 2000 and currently hold the position of Managing Director. She has been instrumental in building the retail distribution network at HDFC and has played key role in introducing several innovative & customer friendly products and services in the mortgage market. She has always been an ardent technology evangelist and has been at the forefront of digital transformation in the company. Apart from being HDFC’s brand custodian, Ms Karnad is the guiding force behind formulation of the organization's communication strategy and public image.

As a part of the management team, Ms Karnad has played an important role in the successful transformation of HDFC into India's leading Financial Services Conglomerate. She is actively involved in the strategic decision making in these companies and serves on the Board of several group companies including HDFC Bank Ltd, HDFC Asset Management Company Limited, HDFC Ergo General Insurance Company Limited, and HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited.

She has served on Board of various eminent companies and is currently part of the Boards of ABB India Limited, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited, and Bangalore International Airport Limited. Ms. Karnad is the President of the International Union for Housing Finance (IUHF), an association of housing finance firms present across the globe. She has also served as Director, Asian Real Estate Society.

Over the years, Ms. Karnad has had to her credit, numerous awards and accolades. Prominent among them being featured in the list of '25 top non-banking women in finance' by U.S. Banker magazine, listed by Wall Street Journal Asia as among the 'Top Ten Powerful Women to Watch Out for in Asia'."Outstanding, Woman Business Leader" by CNBC-TV18 ,25 Most Influential Women Professionals in India by India Today.

Asheesh Mohta is a Senior Managing Director and the Head of Real Estate Acquisitions India, based in Mumbai. Since joining Blackstone in 2007, Mr. Mohta has been involved in analyzing real estate investments across the residential, commercial, and hospitality sectors.

Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Mohta worked as Assistant Vice President with the real estate arm of The Chatterjee Group, one of the first private equity investors in India. He was responsible for the treasury and resource raising functions for the group across a pan-Indian portfolio of properties.

Mr. Mohta received a Bachelor’s of Commerce (honours) degree from the University of Calcutta and an MBA from the Indian School of Business.

Hari is responsible for CPP Investments’ Real Estate investments in India and is based out of the Mumbai office. The Real Estate group in India focuses on investments alongside top tier partners in key sectors such as office, retail and industrial.

Prior to joining CPP Investments in 2014, Hari was at Kotak Investment Advisors which is the alternate assets arm of Kotak Bank. He was co- responsible for real estate funds business which had total assets under management of over USD 1Billion, contributed by SWFs and other global LPs. He started his career with CBRE and JLL in the corporate finance business.

Hari holds a MFin from University of Delhi, India and is Member of Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, UK.

Ankur Gupta is a Managing Partner in Brookfield’s Property Group and Head of Real Estate business in India, responsible for all aspects of property business in the country, including strategy, investments, and asset management.

Mr. Gupta has held numerous senior roles within the firm. Previously, he was a senior member of Brookfield’s property investments team in New York, where he was involved in investments and financings totaling more than $25 billion, including IDI Logistics, Capital Automotive REIT, Associated Estates, Forest City Realty Trust, and a strategic venture with Macy’s.  Mr. Gupta has also overseen the establishment and growth of Brookfield’s Real estate business in India, which spans more than 30 million SF of office assets and led the recent foray into hospitality through acquiring the Hotel Leela business.

Mr. Gupta has more than 15 years of experience in Real Estate. Prior to joining Brookfield in 2012, Mr. Gupta worked for a leading real estate development firm.

Mr. Gupta received his MBA with Dean’s Honors from Columbia Business School and holds a Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Background

• Gaurav Karnik is Partner with Ernst & Young tax practice in India and is the National Leader for Real Estate sector for EY India and National Leader for Sovereign Wealth Funds and Pension Funds for EY India
• Gaurav joined Ernst & Young in 2002 and is based in Gurgaon.
• He is a Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and also holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from Delhi University
• Fluent in English, Hindi and Marathi

Skills

• Gaurav has more than 20 years of experience in the field of taxation, regulatory matters, and international taxation.
• Handling international taxation issues including,permanent establishment issues and other regulatory issues
• Handling Inbound and Outbound tax advisory related issues and Transaction tax related advisory issues

Professional Experience

• Advised several US, UK, Singapore based real estate and infrastructure focused private equity funds in structuring their India centric real estate an d infrastructure funds and their specific investments in Indian companies
• Advised several foreign real estate developers with their India real estate strategy and transactions.
• Advised global hospitality chains in establishing presence in India and tax litigation
• Advised global mall developers on their India real estate strategy and restructuring
• Advised developers and funds on potential REIT strategy
• Advising multinational companies on entry strategy, restructuring and setting up offshore tax efficient vehicles
• Advising on regulatory issues in establishing and doing business in India
• Actively involved in inbound and outbound structuring for clients engaged in the automotive, diversified industrial products, infrastructure, real estate companies
• Assisted number of multinational company on their tax disputes with Indian Revenue authorities
• Advising on international tax issues including permanent establishment issues in India
• Assisted various funds with tax due diligence in India
• Assisted domestic companies in outbound investments and group restructuring
• Assisted real estate industry associations such as APREA, FICCI etc with representation REIT, GST to the Ministry of Finance and SEBI
   

Tel +91 (0)12 4464 4032
Mobile +91 (0)98 11214668
Fax +91 (0)12 4464 4050
Email gaurav.karnik@in.ey.com 

Gautam qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1987 and had stints with two leading accounting and tax consultancy firms, which was followed by a long association of over 12 years with an independent practice founded by him. He joined PwC as a Partner in September 2003, and since then has held various roles including leading the India Tax and Regulatory practice between July 2015 and December 2020, prior to which he was leading the Tax and Regulatory practice in Western India and the Financial Services’ Tax and Regulatory group. He was also the Asset Management Sector leader for PwC in India. He presently leads the PwC global relationship for one of India’s largest conglomerates.

Over the years, Gautam has been working with multinational and domestic clients across a wide spectrum of services and has varied experience of over 30 years spanning multiple sectors.

Gautam is presently a member of SEBI’s Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee as well as of a SEBI Working Group around REITs and InvITs. He is a Board member of the India Chapter of APREA, a regional Real Assets Industry Body and has been a member of the National Direct Tax Committee of the Confederation of Indian Industry. He was a member of the American Chamber of Commerce as well as of the Expert Advisory Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Gautam holds a postgraduate degree in law and financial management and is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Mr. Rahul Rai is with ICICI Prudential AMC Ltd and heads the management of third party close ended funds that invest in real estate projects and pre-leased offices. Rahul has over25 years of experience of which the past 16 years have been specialized on Indian real estate sector and includes expertise across all real estate asset classes and cities.  

Prior to ICICI Prudential, Rahul was with SUN-Apollo Real Estate Advisors as Principal  and before that he has worked with Ernst and Young and Arthur Andersen. 

Rahul is a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and has done his graduation in Commerce from the Bombay University. 

Amit Mathur is a senior investment professional at GIC Real Estate. As a founding member of the GIC RE investment management team in India, he has been deeply involved in driving the investment focus and strategy for India real estate. 

Amit has 22 years of experience in real estate development and investment management.  Prior to GIC, Amit has worked with Kotak Realty Fund, Ascendas, K Raheja Corp and Shapoorji Pallonji Group.  Amit has led some pioneering investments at GIC and earlier in his career.  

Amit is a Bachelor of Architecture with post-graduate qualifications in Management (MBA) from the University of Sheffield.

Hardik Shah (Mumbai) joined KKR in 2018 and is a Partner on the Asia-Pacific Infrastructure team. Mr. Shah is responsible for Infrastructure investments in South Asia. He began his career at Macquarie Group in Sydney, where he spent more than ten years across their Sydney and Mumbai offices and was involved in building their India infrastructure business. More recently, he led Brookfield’s India business and was responsible for building its team and presence. Mr. Shah has led ~USD5bn of transactions in India across various infrastructure sectors such as telecom towers, toll roads, airports, energy transportation and renewable energy. Mr. Shah holds a post graduate degree from S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (Mumbai) and is a CFA Charter holder.

Mr. Harsh Shah is the Chief Executive Officer and Whole-time Director on Board for IndiGrid, the largest listed yield platform for operational energy assets in India with majority interest held by KKR. He has an extensive track record of building large infrastructure platforms and raising private and public capital across infrastructure sector in India and global markets. He has been instrumental in building India's first power sector investment trust - India Grid Trust (IndiGrid), from concept to US $ 2 Bn listed platform working with regulators, investors and developers. He is also a member of the SEBI Advisory Committee for InvITs and REITs and chairs working group on InvITs and REITs at financial markets committee at CII.

Previously, Mr. Shah served as the Chief Financial Officer at Sterlite Power Transmission Limited. Prior to joining Sterlite, he has worked with Larsen & Toubro Limited, L&T Infrastructure Finance Company Limited and Procter & Gamble International Operations Pte. Limited.

Mr. Shah holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the National University of Singapore and a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Nirma Institute of Technology, Gujarat University.

Aravind Maiya has over 22 years of experience in real estate, capital markets, audit and consulting. Aravind was the Chief Financial Officer at Embassy REIT from May 2019 to May 2022, and played a pivotal role in driving the growth of India’s first listed REIT. He re-joins Embassy REIT from Tata Realty, where he was the Chief Financial Officer overseeing the finance and tax functions as well as investor relations. He was also actively involved in the strategic growth initiatives with the CEO.

At Embassy REIT, Aravind was a core member of the management team and was responsible for the finance, legal and compliance functions. Prior to that, he was Partner at BSR & Associates LLP, where he specialised in commercial real estate across audit, assurance and capital market transactions including listed companies.

Aravind holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Bangalore University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Radha is the CEO and Country Head of JLL, India’s largest commercial property services firm. JLL is a global professional services and investment management firm dedicated to helping clients create value by owning, occupying, developing, or investing in real estate.

Based in Mumbai, Radha drives JLL’s overall direction, strategy and growth in India, one of the most important real estate markets in the world. As a member of the firm’s Asia Pacific Executive Board and chairing the India Leadership Council, Radha commenced her journey with JLL in January 2021. A seasoned financial services executive with over 25 years’ experience in banking, Radha was previously the Group President at Yes Bank, where she headed Multinational Corporate Banking. Prior to that, she was Managing Director, Head of Global Subsidiary Coverage Group, Deutsche Bank India, and a member of the Deutsche Bank India Executive Committee.

She led a relationship management team serving both multinationals and India-based corporates. Having started as a graduate trainee in 1995, she took on positions of increasing responsibility and, in 2008, was the first woman and youngest Managing Director appointed at Deutsche Bank India. Radha is highly respected for her integrity, business acumen and for building strong and trusting relationships with colleagues and clients.

Radha is the vice chair of the ULI India Exco in India. She is also an active participant and contributor to various committees such as World Economic Forum, NAREDCO, CREDAI and CII.

Radha is a believer in living a balanced life with equal focus on work as well as physical and mental fitness. In 2018, Radha founded Ziptofitness, committed to the idea that fitness, good health, nutrition and happiness & success go hand in hand.

Radha is also passionate about building communities, infrastructure, responsible consumption, educating our nation and empowering our girls. An avid sports fan, Radha diligently follow cricket and tennis. She is trained Indian classical singer and her passion for music has led her to create a music YouTube channel as well.