APREA India Annual Conference

Ms. Meghana Pandit is the Chief Investment Officer at IndiGrid since 2018. She holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce and a master’s degree management studies from the University of Mumbai, has cleared all three levels of CFA, CFA Institute (US) and a post graduate diploma in financial analysis from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India. She has over 20 years of experience in investment banking and corporate finance, covering the infrastructure sector across private equity transactions, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, qualified institutional placements and infrastructure investment trusts, in sub-sectors such as roads, airports, renewable power, thermal power, ports and real estate. She has previously worked in IDFC Bank, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services India Private Limited and Essar Steel Limited.

At IndiGrid, she is responsible for M&A, fund raising, treasury, investor relations and other growth initiatives.

He Bhairav has a varied experience in advising Indian and multinational groups in the area of Real Estate, Infrastructure and Private Equity. He has over 20 years of post-qualification experience in transaction and tax advisory services. Over the last 17 years his focus has been Real Estate.

Bhairav has also advised Real Estate companies on complex projects involving investment structuring and group restructuring. Given his experience, he has been extensively involved in the REIT / InvIT discussions in the industry and regulators as well. He has handled diverse assignments in the transaction and corporate restructuring space, involving:

• developing real estate fund structures and consummating their investments
• Redevelopment Projects (including SRA’s & Society re-development projects)
• Infra space such as bid structuring, private equity funding, re-structuring for Singapore BT listing M & A and Inbound advisory

Bhairav is a graduate in Commerce from the University of Mumbai and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India since 2002. He regularly speaks on Real Estate related topics before various forums, and contributes articles, interviews to several newspapers, magazines and business news channels.

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.

Anish is a partner in Price Waterhouse & Co LLP and has over 25 years’ experience advising clients on income-tax and regulatory matters.

Anish advises MNCs and domestic clients on Indian and international tax, inbound investment advisory and corporate tax (with a focus on real state, infrastructure and private equity funds), assists them in setting up investment structures, conducting tax due diligence and providing advice on tax and regulatory compliances. Anish also advises on exchange control regulations, corporate and other regulatory laws.

He has wide experience in advising real estate and infrastructure clients on evaluation of JDA / EPC arrangements, migration to REIT / InvIT structures, business reorganisation and M&A transactions.

He has also actively participated in advocacy related discussions with the Finance Ministry requesting clarifications / amendments to the recently introduced sovereign wealth fund and pension fund tax exemption.

Anish is a commerce graduate and a member of ICAI.

He Bhairav has a varied experience in advising Indian and multinational groups in the area of Real Estate, Infrastructure and Private Equity. He has over 20 years of post-qualification experience in transaction and tax advisory services. Over the last 17 years his focus has been Real Estate.

Bhairav has also advised Real Estate companies on complex projects involving investment structuring and group restructuring. Given his experience, he has been extensively involved in the REIT / InvIT discussions in the industry and regulators as well. He has handled diverse assignments in the transaction and corporate restructuring space, involving:

• developing real estate fund structures and consummating their investments
• Redevelopment Projects (including SRA’s & Society re-development projects)
• Infra space such as bid structuring, private equity funding, re-structuring for Singapore BT listing M & A and Inbound advisory

Bhairav is a graduate in Commerce from the University of Mumbai and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India since 2002. He regularly speaks on Real Estate related topics before various forums, and contributes articles, interviews to several newspapers, magazines and business news channels.

Suresh Goyal is MD & CEO of National Highways Authority of India’s Infrastructure Investment Trust (NHAI InvIT), which has been set up to monetize operating highway projects under Government of India’s National Monetization Pipeline. NHAI InvIT has successfully raised funds from marquee international and domestic institutional investors and lenders, with an Enterprise Value of above USD 1 billion.

Suresh Goyal has overall experience of 27 years. Over the last 15 years, he has been engaged in investing in the infrastructure space, including into roads, renewables, telecom towers, and airports. Prior to joining NHAI InvIT in October 2020, he was based in Singapore as Head of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets for South East Asia & India region.

Kranti Mohan has over 15 years of experience in advising on Indian securities laws. He has advised
on almost the entire spectrum of capital markets transactions, including IPOs, QIPs, rights offerings,
overseas listings (including through business trust route), buybacks, and block/ bulk trades on the
stock exchanges. Over the last few years, he has also extensively advised on establishing and listing
business trusts, infrastructure investment trusts, real estate investment trusts and yieldcos.

Kranti is also a member of the Hybrid Securities Advisory Committee constituted by SEBI and a
member of APREA’s India Infra and InvITs Committee.

He was an active participant in the Firm’s initiatives related to the consultation process on various
aspects of Invits and REITs and collaborated with few stakeholders in making representations to
various governmental/ regulatory authorities, including the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of
Finance, Central Board of Direct Taxes, the Reserve Bank of India and SEBI.

In the past, Kranti was also a member of the committee constituted by SEBI for streamlining
disclosure standards for equity offerings and the working group on evaluating REITs of CII.

Looking after the Infrastructure Finance Unit at the DEA since September, 2021. The work deals with policy related to financing requirements of infrastructure including conceiving new initiatives related to infrastructure financing and promotion of investment in infrastructure sectors such as policy matters related to infrastructure financing and promotion of investment in infrastructure sectors; Infrastructure Debt Funds (IDFs), Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)/ Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvITs), other instruments for infrastructure financing.

Over thirteen years of experience as a Taxation Officer of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Worked in various capacities such as a Quasi-judicial Authority, Tax collector, Enforcement, Policy making etc.

Ami Momaya (Mumbai) joined KKR in 2022 and is a member of the Asia-Pacific Infrastructure team. Ms. Momaya is responsible for infrastructure investments in India. Ms. Momaya began her career at Morgan Stanley where she spent 17 years across their India and New York offices and was instrumental in building their India infrastructure business. As a part of Morgan Stanley’s infrastructure business, Ms. Momaya led transactions across transportation, logistics and renewable energy. Prior to joining the Infrastructure Fund in 2008, Ms. Momaya worked at Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division in New York where she focused on buyouts, mergers & acquisitions, initial public offerings and financings in services, outsourcing and payment processing sectors. Ms. Momaya holds a Bachelors in Commerce from Mumbai University and a post graduate degree from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (Mumbai).

Kavita Saha is Senior Principal, Infrastructure, CPPIB and is responsible for evaluating and executing infrastructure investments in India. She has over 24 years’ experience in infrastructure advisory, financing and investments with Indian and international institutions, including JP Morgan, Barclays, IL&FS and IDBI. Prior to joining CPPIB, she was Managing Director in the Asian Infrastructure Fund, part of JP Morgan’s Global Alternatives Platform where she was responsible for investing in infrastructure projects in India in sectors such as roads and power. Kavita is a CFA and MBA from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University.

Suresh Goyal is MD & CEO of National Highways Authority of India’s Infrastructure Investment Trust (NHAI InvIT), which has been set up to monetize operating highway projects under Government of India’s National Monetization Pipeline. NHAI InvIT has successfully raised funds from marquee international and domestic institutional investors and lenders, with an Enterprise Value of above USD 1 billion.

Suresh Goyal has overall experience of 27 years. Over the last 15 years, he has been engaged in investing in the infrastructure space, including into roads, renewables, telecom towers, and airports. Prior to joining NHAI InvIT in October 2020, he was based in Singapore as Head of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets for South East Asia & India region.

Saurabh wears two hats at CDPQ. In his continuing role since March 2017 as the Managing Director, Infrastructure, Saurabh is leading CDPQ’s infrastructure activities in South Asia and Middle East and is responsible for strategy development, sourcing, evaluating, executing and managing high-quality infrastructure investments, as well as developing long-term partner relationships in these regions.

In his additional role as the Managing Director of CDPQ India (since March 2022), he takes an active role in positioning CDPQ as a partner of choice across asset classes - public equities (direct and indirect), debt, private equity, and infrastructure – while representing the organization in the financial and business community, as well as with key stakeholders including the government and the regulators.

Mr. Agarwal has over 21 years of investment and technology sector experience. Before joining CDPQ in 2017, he spent over 10 years at Morgan Stanley, most recently as Executive Director at Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP), a global infrastructure fund, playing a key role in acquiring and managing fund investments. Prior to this, he was a scientific researcher in supercomputer technology at IBM Research Labs and Wipro Global R&D Center.

Mr. Agarwal holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Michigan, a Master’s in Computer Science from Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Engineering from India’s National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. He currently serves as the Managing Director on the board of CDPQ India. He also serves as a non-executive director (NED) on the boards of A) Apprava Energy, B) Maple Infra InvIT Investment Manager Private Limited and C) Maple Highway Project Management Private Limited, certain investee companies of CDPQ in India. He has previously served as NED on the Boards of several investee companies of MSIP.

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 

Mr. Mike Holland is Chief Executive Officer of Embassy Office Parks, India’s first and only listed REIT, sponsored by Embassy Group and Blackstone. Embassy REIT listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in April 2019. In April 2020, the business had a market capitalisation in excess of USD 3 bn.

Mike has worked in Asia since 1995 and has lived in India for close to two decades. He currently resides in Bangalore. He is also a board member of a number of charitable organizations with a focus on disability and education.

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.

Mr. Sriram Khattar is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a batch topper from Hindu College, Delhi University. With a prolific career spanning more than 3 decades, he has discharged leadership responsibilities at the group corporate level as well as various business head positions.

Currently, as the Vice Chairman & 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 rental portfolio of ~ 44 million sq. ft. of office space and ~ 5.5 million sq. ft. of 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 portfolio, whilst assuring the achievement of business plans.

He is the Deputy Chairman of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association – India Chapter. He is also a member of the CII National Committee on Real Estate and Housing.

Mr. Khattar has held numerous senior leadership positions with reputed organizations in India and overseas.

Alok is Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, for Brookfield Properties in India, where he oversees all aspects of the business including design, development, strategic initiatives, finance, corporate strategy, leasing and tenant relationships.

Alok has spearheaded the largest professional office platform in India, creating a customer-focused senior management team. Under Alok’s leadership, Brookfield Properties has established itself as one of the strongest brands and a preferred choice of top global and Indian occupiers. He has also strengthened the company’s commitment to environment, social and governance (ESG) practices in India. Alok has over three decades of multifaceted experience in leadership roles, both in operations and investments.

In his previous organizations, Milestone Capital and Sun Apollo Real Advisors, Alok has been instrumental in closing high value deals across asset classes starting from identifying the opportunity, to evaluation and finalization of investments across residential, commercial, hospitality, warehousing & mixed-use developments. His career also spans leadership roles at DLF, The Chatterjee Group and Mahindra Reality.

Alok holds a bachelor’s degree from IIT Delhi and an MBA from ISB Hyderabad.

Mr. Vinod Rohira is the Chief Executive Officer of Mindspace Business Parks REIT. Equipped with an MBA from Booth School of Business, Chicago, and a law degree from the Mumbai University, Vinod began his career with the K Raheja Corp, over two decades ago. He has during his tenure, pioneered the concept of landmark business districts, premium residential and retail complexes, which have become the reference points in Indian real estate. Vinod is a key member of the leadership team that has built the K Raheja Corp into one of the most respected and leading names in Indian real estate.

Having led the development of Grade A commercial real estate across India for the Group and listing Mindspace Business Parks REIT on the Indian Stock Exchanges; his current focus is on driving the commercial business’ strategic operations, with a particular emphasis on stakeholders’ management and business development.

An Entrepreneur, and an MBA from the London Business School, Ravi has 26 years of comprehensive experience across real estate, retail and hospitality, right from the grassroots level to the C-suite. His multivariate experience and an inherent acumen for judging correctly has led him to spearhead business development for the Real Estate arm of the Group, and take it to greater heights. He also plays a key role in guiding the teams of finance, corporate strategy and planning, for the retail and hospitality divisions of the Company.

ueled by his vast experience of over two decades in the industry, Ravi is actively involved in charting the future growth of K Raheja Corp and each of its businesses, and has been a catalyst in the company’s evolution from a family owned business to a professionally managed and growing corporate.

A respected name in India Inc., Ravi is an active contributor to the industry through premier forums such as Indian Green Building Council, where he served as the Chairman (Mumbai chapter), and as member of the World Economic Forum

Known for his benevolence and an innate need to give back to the society, Ravi plays a key role in the group’s philanthropic initiatives through K. Raheja Foundation, Sadhana Education Society and S. L. Raheja Hospital.

Having built an excellent foundation Ravi spearheads the next phase of growth for the Group.

A Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Mr Keki Mistry brings with him nearly four decades of varied work experience in the Banking & Financial Services domain.

In 1975, Mr Mistry began his career with AF Ferguson & Co, a renowned Chartered Accountancy Firm, followed by short stints with Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Indian Hotels Company Ltd

In 1981, Mr Mistry joined HDFC Ltd., India's premier housing finance company. Over the years he held several responsibilities, prior to being inducted onto its Board as Executive Director in 1993. He was appointed as the Managing Director in 2000, as the Vice Chairman & Managing Director in October 2007 and the Vice-Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation with effect from January 1, 2010. Mr Mistry is responsible for the overall functioning of the Corporation.

Mr Mistry has played a critical role in the successful transformation of HDFC into India's leading Financial Services Conglomerate by facilitating the formation of companies including HDFC Bank Ltd., HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd., HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd. and HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Ltd.

Besides being on the board of several HDFC Group companies, Mr Mistry is also on the Board of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Torrent Power Ltd, Griha Investments - Mauritius, Griha Investments Pte Ltd – Singapore and Flipkart Private Limited - Singapore.  He is also on the Advisory Boards of a few Indian Corporates.

Mr Mistry has been a Consultant to the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) in Thailand, Mauritius, Caribbean Islands and Jamaica, guiding the company to review and evaluate the operations of mortgage financial institutions in these countries. He has also been Consultant to the Mauritius Housing Company and Asian Development Bank.

He is a Member of Primary Market Advisory committee (PMAC) constituted by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and was a Member of Corporate Governance Committee constituted by SEBI in 2017 and Chairman of the CII Corporate Governance Committee 2016-17 to 2017-2018. He is currently the Chairman of the Cll National Council on Corporate Governance from 2019-20. He is also a Member of the CII Economic Affairs Council for 2021-22.

Some of Mr. Mistry's important recognitions include the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award for Corporate Governance’ for 2020 by the Asian Centre for Corporate Governance & Sustainability, 'CEO of The Year' under BFSI Category at CNBC Awaaz CEO Awards 2019, 'BMA Management Man of the Year 2016' at the 37th Bombay Management Association (BMA), 'Best Independent Director Award 2014' by Asian Centre for Corporate Governance & Sustainability, the Best CEO Financial Services (Large Companies) 2014 by Business Today magazine, CFO India Hall of Fame by the CFO India magazine in 2012, One of Best CEO for Investor Relations – India at the Thomson Reuters “Extel Awards” – 2012, Best Banker of the Year in 2011 by Financial Express, awarded the QIMPRO Gold Standard 2011– Leader for Quality in Business by the Qimpro Foundation, honored with the ‘CA Business Achiever of the year’ award in the Financial Sector by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in 2011, declared as the Best CFO in the Financial Services category by the ICAI for 2008, CNBC TV18's Award for the 'Best Performing CFO in the Financial Services Sector' for three consecutive years - 2006, 2007 & 2008 and CFO of the Year for 2008 and selection as the 'Best Investor Relations Officer' in the Corporate Governance poll by Asiamoney (2008).

Shri Ananta Barua was appointed by Central Government as Whole Time Member, of Securities and Exchange Board of India in Mumbai on August 1, 2018.

Shri Barua looks after Market Intermediaries Regulation and Supervision Department (MIRSD), Department of Debt and Hybrid Securities(DDHS), Investment Management Department (IMD), Market Regulation Department (MRD), Market Intermediaries Regulation and Supervision Department (MIRSD), Enforcement Department (EFD), Investigation Department, Legal Affairs Department (LAD), Enquiry and Adjudication Department, Board Cell and Parliament Affairs Cell.

Prior to this position, Shri Barua served as Executive Director from May, 2010 to July, 2018 in SEBI. He was in charge of various departments in SEBI such as Investment Management Department (consisting of Mutual Funds, AIF, PMS, Research Analyst, IAS), Foreign Portfolio Investors, DDHS (consisting of Debt securities, Securitised Debt Instruments(SDI), RIET, InVit, Municipal Bonds), Corporate Finance Department (IPO(ICDR), Listing (LODR), Corporate Restructuring (SAST, Buyback), LAD and EFD.

He was instrumental for developing regulatory framework for Issue and Listing of Debt Securities, Electronic Book Platform (EBP) Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) including Angel Funds, Municipal Bonds, Securitisation, Green Bonds, REITs & InvITs, Insider Trading, Research Analyst etc.

Mr. Barua is a Commerce Graduate with LLB both from the University of Delhi. He also holds a Diploma in Management. Completed Regulatory internship for a month on derivatives with Chicago Board of Option Exchange (Cboe Global Markets), Chicago (July/August, 1998), and on Capital Market Regulation with International Law Institute (ILI), Washington in October, 1995.

Shri Barua was on deputation to Central Bank of Bahrain as Advisor from 2004 to 2006 and has previously worked with Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI), National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) and DCM Ltd. He joined SEBI in 1992.

Preeti Chheda is the Chief Financial Officer of K Raheja Corp Investment Managers Private Limited, Manager to Mindspace Business Parks REIT. Preeti has been associated with K Raheja Corp group for over 17 years across various roles in including equity and debt fund raising, acquisitions, raising private equity for real estate projects, investor relations and financial reporting. Before joining KRC Group she has worked with Marico Limited, Shell Gas (LPG) and Cairn Energy.

Preeti is a qualified chartered accountant with over 24 years of work-ex. She is also a Company Secretary and a CFA Charterholder. Preeti has also passed the Uniform CPA Examination from the Colorado State Board of Accountancy, USA. She is also a member of the Hybrid Securities Advisory Committee constituted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India and on the Expert Committee on REITs and InvITs in IFSC GIFT CITY. She also won the Economic Times, Best CFO in Financial Leadership Award 2024 and the Business World Best Women CFO Award 2024.

Ms. Meghana Pandit is the Chief Investment Officer at IndiGrid since 2018. She holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce and a master’s degree management studies from the University of Mumbai, has cleared all three levels of CFA, CFA Institute (US) and a post graduate diploma in financial analysis from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India. She has over 20 years of experience in investment banking and corporate finance, covering the infrastructure sector across private equity transactions, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, qualified institutional placements and infrastructure investment trusts, in sub-sectors such as roads, airports, renewable power, thermal power, ports and real estate. She has previously worked in IDFC Bank, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services India Private Limited and Essar Steel Limited.

At IndiGrid, she is responsible for M&A, fund raising, treasury, investor relations and other growth initiatives.

Hari is Executive Vice President & the Chief Business Officer at NSE, India’s premier bourse for trading equities, currencies and their derivatives. In this role, Hari is responsible for strategic, policy initiatives & business growth for the Exchange across products, and spearheads the SME, listing and member services role at NSE. 

Prior to this role, Hari was head of listing compliance, membership, education & corporate communications.  He was initially involved with the clearing corporation of NSE and capital market & surveillance operations. He was part of the team that introduced derivatives in Indian capital markets.

Hari represents NSE at various committees of the Regulator and has been with NSE for over 26 years and has experience in regulatory and business development. 

Ritwik Bhattacharjee is the Chief Investment Officer at Embassy REIT. Ritwik was a member of the IPO team that listed Embassy REIT on the Indian stock exchanges in April 2019. Prior to Joining Embassy REIT, Ritwik managed a family office in India overseeing public and private investments. Ritwik spent 12 years as an investment banker at global banks, including Nomura, Citi, UBS and JPMorgan. Ritwik has worked on numerous REIT and real estate capital markets and advisory transactions in the United States and across Asia.

Ritwik holds a bachelor’s of arts degree in economics from Middlebury College, a master’s degree in business administration from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College, and a master of arts degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

Ms. Sunaina da Cunha is the Co-Head of Fixed Income at Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited. She has a rich experience of 17 years in fixed income fund management with an expertise in structuring bond solution and credit transactions. As Co-Head, Sunaina leads the overall credit portfolio of the AMC..

She has been a part of the Aditya Birla Group since 2004 having started as a Group Management Trainee in Aditya Birla Management Corporation Private Limited.

Sunaina is a CFA Charter Holder from the CFA Institute, Virginia, USA. She is also an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi.

Umang is Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer at IIFL Wealth and has more than two decades of experience in investments and wealth management. As a part of his role at IIFL Wealth, Umang provides strategic guidance for investment decisions across asset classes including Equities, Real Estate, Fixed Income, Commodities and Alternatives with a focus on continuous product innovation.

Umang has spearheaded launch of several Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) in India and also serves on the Investment Committee of several AIFs. He is also responsible for third party fund manager due diligence and selection, alternative investments, deal sourcing and provides continuous support to the sales team.

Umang holds board positions in a couple of companies including IIFL Distribution Services and IIFL Wealth Capital Markets. Umang also served on the board of IIFL Wealth Finance Ltd. (a systematically important NBFC) from February 2016 to November 2017.

Umang is an electronics engineer and holds a Master’s degree in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj - Institute, Mumbai.

Born on 5^th January, 1974.

He holds Post Graduate degree in History from University of Delhi.  

He Joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 2002. Before joining as Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, he served as Secretary, Lokpal and Divisional Commissioner, Jalandhar, Punjab from 08/2018 to 01/2020. He also served in various field and secretariat positions in the Government of Punjab and Government of India. Among the posts he has held are Private Secretary to Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Director, Industries and Commerce Department, Punjab; Director, Technical Education and Industrial Training, Punjab, Commissioner, NRI, Punjab, Special Secretary, Expenditure, Punjab and Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, Punjab.

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 the SEBI HySec Committee dealing with REITs and InvITs. He is a Board member of the India Chapter of APREA, a regional Real Assets Industry Body and a member of the CII Committee on Private Equity. He has been a member of the American Chamber of Commerce, the National Direct Tax Committee of the Confederation of Indian Industry, 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.

Born on 5^th January, 1974.

He holds Post Graduate degree in History from University of Delhi.  

He Joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 2002. Before joining as Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, he served as Secretary, Lokpal and Divisional Commissioner, Jalandhar, Punjab from 08/2018 to 01/2020. He also served in various field and secretariat positions in the Government of Punjab and Government of India. Among the posts he has held are Private Secretary to Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Director, Industries and Commerce Department, Punjab; Director, Technical Education and Industrial Training, Punjab, Commissioner, NRI, Punjab, Special Secretary, Expenditure, Punjab and Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, Punjab.

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.

Mr. Gajri joined HDFC Life in April 2009 and has a rich experience of over 26 years in banking and investments. He currently oversees the investment team at HDFC Life which manages assets of about Rs. 200,000 crore across fixed income, equity and other asset classes. He started his career in 1995 with Citibank and was associated with it for over 6 years delivering various roles. He joined Tata AIG Life Insurance Company in October 2001 to start the investment function and stayed there until April 2009, the last role being that of the Chief Investment Officer.

He holds a PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad and is also a CFA Charterholder.

Shri Sashi Krishnan is the Chief Executive Officer - National Pension System Trust (CEO, NPS Trust). He assumed charge as the CEO, of NPS Trust in January 2021. The National Pension System Trust (NPST) was established by PFRDA, as per the provisions of the Indian Trusts Act of 1882, for taking care of the assets and funds under the National Pension System, in the best interest of the subscribers.

He has over 30 years experience in the Pension Fund Management, Life Insurance and Mutual Fund industries. He has extensive experience in equity and debt markets.

He has done his BE (Hons.) Chemical Engineering and MSc (Hons.). Economics from BITS, Pilani. He also has a Diploma in Management from IGNOU with a specialization in Finance and CAIIB from the Indian Institute of Bankers.

Prior to joining the NPS Trust, he was the CEO at Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Management Limited, His previous assignments include leadership roles with Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd., DBS Bank (Singapore), DBS Cholamandalam Asset Management Ltd. and Unit Trust of India. He is the Member of the Index Policy Committee of India Index Services & Products Ltd.

Shri Ananta Barua was appointed by Central Government as Whole Time Member, of Securities and Exchange Board of India in Mumbai on August 1, 2018.

Shri Barua looks after Market Intermediaries Regulation and Supervision Department (MIRSD), Department of Debt and Hybrid Securities(DDHS), Investment Management Department (IMD), Market Regulation Department (MRD), Market Intermediaries Regulation and Supervision Department (MIRSD), Enforcement Department (EFD), Investigation Department, Legal Affairs Department (LAD), Enquiry and Adjudication Department, Board Cell and Parliament Affairs Cell.

Prior to this position, Shri Barua served as Executive Director from May, 2010 to July, 2018 in SEBI. He was in charge of various departments in SEBI such as Investment Management Department (consisting of Mutual Funds, AIF, PMS, Research Analyst, IAS), Foreign Portfolio Investors, DDHS (consisting of Debt securities, Securitised Debt Instruments(SDI), RIET, InVit, Municipal Bonds), Corporate Finance Department (IPO(ICDR), Listing (LODR), Corporate Restructuring (SAST, Buyback), LAD and EFD.

He was instrumental for developing regulatory framework for Issue and Listing of Debt Securities, Electronic Book Platform (EBP) Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) including Angel Funds, Municipal Bonds, Securitisation, Green Bonds, REITs & InvITs, Insider Trading, Research Analyst etc.

Mr. Barua is a Commerce Graduate with LLB both from the University of Delhi. He also holds a Diploma in Management. Completed Regulatory internship for a month on derivatives with Chicago Board of Option Exchange (Cboe Global Markets), Chicago (July/August, 1998), and on Capital Market Regulation with International Law Institute (ILI), Washington in October, 1995.

Shri Barua was on deputation to Central Bank of Bahrain as Advisor from 2004 to 2006 and has previously worked with Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI), National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) and DCM Ltd. He joined SEBI in 1992.

Born on 5^th January, 1974.

He holds Post Graduate degree in History from University of Delhi.  

He Joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 2002. Before joining as Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, he served as Secretary, Lokpal and Divisional Commissioner, Jalandhar, Punjab from 08/2018 to 01/2020. He also served in various field and secretariat positions in the Government of Punjab and Government of India. Among the posts he has held are Private Secretary to Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Director, Industries and Commerce Department, Punjab; Director, Technical Education and Industrial Training, Punjab, Commissioner, NRI, Punjab, Special Secretary, Expenditure, Punjab and Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, Punjab.

Shri Sashi Krishnan is the Chief Executive Officer - National Pension System Trust (CEO, NPS Trust). He assumed charge as the CEO, of NPS Trust in January 2021. The National Pension System Trust (NPST) was established by PFRDA, as per the provisions of the Indian Trusts Act of 1882, for taking care of the assets and funds under the National Pension System, in the best interest of the subscribers.

He has over 30 years experience in the Pension Fund Management, Life Insurance and Mutual Fund industries. He has extensive experience in equity and debt markets.

He has done his BE (Hons.) Chemical Engineering and MSc (Hons.). Economics from BITS, Pilani. He also has a Diploma in Management from IGNOU with a specialization in Finance and CAIIB from the Indian Institute of Bankers.

Prior to joining the NPS Trust, he was the CEO at Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Management Limited, His previous assignments include leadership roles with Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd., DBS Bank (Singapore), DBS Cholamandalam Asset Management Ltd. and Unit Trust of India. He is the Member of the Index Policy Committee of India Index Services & Products Ltd.

Mr. Gajri joined HDFC Life in April 2009 and has a rich experience of over 26 years in banking and investments. He currently oversees the investment team at HDFC Life which manages assets of about Rs. 200,000 crore across fixed income, equity and other asset classes. He started his career in 1995 with Citibank and was associated with it for over 6 years delivering various roles. He joined Tata AIG Life Insurance Company in October 2001 to start the investment function and stayed there until April 2009, the last role being that of the Chief Investment Officer.

He holds a PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad and is also a CFA Charterholder.

Neel, an alumnus of Harvard Business School and a Masters' in Finance and Economics with a Degree in Law has about 26 years of rich business experience.

Neel heads the core real estate business and is now instrumental in setting up I.T. office parks and residential townships. He is on the Board of Chalet Hotels, hospitality division of the group, which manages seven 5‐star properties across India. He has successfully set up the brand 'Inorbit Malls' at pan India basis and Inorbit is now among the top 3 mall companies in the country.

Neel is also on the Board of 'Shoppers Stop', the country's prestigious department store chain.

He was selected as the Top 40 under 40 by Economic Times.

He chairs some of the important committees that shape key industry developments, like:

• APREA, Chairman, India Chapter.
• NAREDCO‐President, West.
• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Chairman ‐ National Committee on Real Estate and Housing.
• Advisory Board Member, SCAI (Shopping Centres Association of India)

He has been appointed by the Government of India to study and suggest changes to the Special Economic Zone policy.

He was invited by the Honourable Prime Minister of India as a member of 'Champions of Change'.

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.

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.

Mr. Sriram Khattar is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a batch topper from Hindu College, Delhi University. With a prolific career spanning more than 3 decades, he has discharged leadership responsibilities at the group corporate level as well as various business head positions.

Currently, as the Vice Chairman & 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 rental portfolio of ~ 44 million sq. ft. of office space and ~ 5.5 million sq. ft. of 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 portfolio, whilst assuring the achievement of business plans.

He is the Deputy Chairman of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association – India Chapter. He is also a member of the CII National Committee on Real Estate and Housing.

Mr. Khattar has held numerous senior leadership positions with reputed organizations in India and overseas.

Mr. Mike Holland is Chief Executive Officer of Embassy Office Parks, India’s first and only listed REIT, sponsored by Embassy Group and Blackstone. Embassy REIT listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in April 2019. In April 2020, the business had a market capitalisation in excess of USD 3 bn.

Mike has worked in Asia since 1995 and has lived in India for close to two decades. He currently resides in Bangalore. He is also a board member of a number of charitable organizations with a focus on disability and education.

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 

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.

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. 

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 the SEBI HySec Committee dealing with REITs and InvITs. He is a Board member of the India Chapter of APREA, a regional Real Assets Industry Body and a member of the CII Committee on Private Equity. He has been a member of the American Chamber of Commerce, the National Direct Tax Committee of the Confederation of Indian Industry, 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.

He Bhairav has a varied experience in advising Indian and multinational groups in the area of Real Estate, Infrastructure and Private Equity. He has over 20 years of post-qualification experience in transaction and tax advisory services. Over the last 17 years his focus has been Real Estate.

Bhairav has also advised Real Estate companies on complex projects involving investment structuring and group restructuring. Given his experience, he has been extensively involved in the REIT / InvIT discussions in the industry and regulators as well. He has handled diverse assignments in the transaction and corporate restructuring space, involving:

• developing real estate fund structures and consummating their investments
• Redevelopment Projects (including SRA’s & Society re-development projects)
• Infra space such as bid structuring, private equity funding, re-structuring for Singapore BT listing M & A and Inbound advisory

Bhairav is a graduate in Commerce from the University of Mumbai and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India since 2002. He regularly speaks on Real Estate related topics before various forums, and contributes articles, interviews to several newspapers, magazines and business news channels.