Link to website : https://www.piyushgoyal.in/

Link to Bio: https://www.piyushgoyal.in/biography/

Mr. Ashwini Vaishnaw is currently the Union Cabinet Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics & IT. He was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) in June 2019. He represents the Eastern State of Odisha. Mr. Vaishnaw brings blend of experience in government entrepreneurship and public services.

In his early career as an IAS officer, Mr. Vaishnaw earned the reputation of executing development programmes with active participation of people at the grassroots. For instance, his team in Balasore effectively used technology and mobilized people during the Odisha Super Cyclone of October 1999. Mr. Vaishnaw used the data available on US JTWC website to accurately track the path of the Super Cyclone. He engaged with the people living in the villages that were located in the path of the cyclone, mobilized them and evacuated more than half a million people just before the cyclone hit the coast. This helped in saving thousands of lives. The strategy of evacuation was then adapted as a standard operating process throughout Eastern India, which is frequently hit by cyclones.

His work in districts of Sundergarh, Balasore and Cuttack was highly appreciated and he was selected to work in the Prime Minister’s Office.

In Prime Minister Vajpayee’s Office, Mr. Vaishnaw focused on developing infrastructure in public-private partnerships. He was part of the team that setup the framework which led to development of thousands of kilometres of world class highways, sea ports and airports in India. After serving Mr. Vajpayee, Mr. Vaishnaw led the operation and development of Mormugao Port Trust, a major sea-port on the West Coast of India. Here, he conceived and developed projects for Cruise terminals, Coal terminal, and modernization of Iron Ore terminals.

In his corporate and entrepreneurial journey, Mr. Vaishnaw worked in the railway, urban infrastructure, and manufacturing sectors. Mr. Vaishnaw earned his MBA from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, USA and Masters in Technology from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India.

Mr. Vaishnaw, 53 years enjoys meditating, reading and listening to music.

Shri K. Rajaraman belongs to the 1989 batch of Indian Administrative Service (Tamil Nadu cadre) and has assumed the responsibility of the Chairperson of International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) after serving for nearly 35 years in various leadership roles in Government of India and Government of Tamil Nadu. Prior to joining the IFSCA, he served as the Secretary to Government of India in the Department of Telecommunications. He is a B.Tech Graduate in Electronics & Communications, a first-class MBA and Master of Economics.

Starting his career as a Design Engineer in BHEL, Trichy, during his rich and varied experience as an IAS Officer, he had held various administrative positions in the areas of Investment Promotion, Foreign Direct Investment, Public Sector Undertakings, Industrial Infrastructure, VAT Administration, etc. He was MD of Chennai Metro Railways for nearly 4 years during its early construction phase, Commissioner for Commercial Taxes in Government of Tamil Nadu, and Joint Secretary Expenditure in Government of India. He also served as Additional Secretary, Investment, IER and Administration in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

Shri K. V. Kamath is an Indian banker having started his career in 1971 at ICICI. In 1988, he moved to the Asian Development Bank and spent several years in South East Asia before returning to ICICI as its Managing Director and CEO in 1996 and post its merger into ICICI Bank, was Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank. Under his leadership, ICICI transformed itself into a diversified, technology-driven financial services group across banking, insurance and asset management in India, and a global presence. He retired as Managing Director and CEO in 2009 and continued as the Chairman of ICICI Bank till 2015.

In 2015 he was appointed as the first President of the New Development Bank set up by the BRICS countries from where he retired in 2020. He has served as Chairman of Infosys. He is currently the Chairman of the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) and Jio Financial Services Ltd.

Shri Kamath was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian honours in 2008.

Shri K. V. Kamath is a mechanical engineer and completed his post-graduation in business administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Anjali Bansal is the Founding Partner of Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund - investing in technology and innovation-led start-ups catalysing climate solutions and sustainability. Previously, Anjali was the Non-Executive Chairperson of Dena Bank, appointed by the Government of India to steer the stressed bank’s resolution and merger with Bank of Baroda. Prior to that, Anjali was a Global Partner and Managing Director with TPG Growth PE, responsible for India, SE Asia, Africa and Middle East and strategy consultant with McKinsey in New York.

Anjali has invested in various successful start-ups including Nykaa, Delhivery, Urban Company, Darwinbox, Farmart, and climate tech leaders like Turno, Terra.do and Eeki. She serves as an independent director on leading boards including Tata Power, Nestle, and Piramal Enterprises. She has been appointed on the Board of ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) and GIFT City, and chairs the Climate Council within IVCA. She is a Member of the Evolution Review Committee for Niti Aayog, India’s premier policy think tank chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister.

Anjali has previously chaired the India board of Women's World Banking, and served on the boards of GSK Pharma, Siemens, and Bata. She has co-founded and chaired the FICCI program for Women on Corporate Boards.

Anjali is a member of the YPO and a charter member of TiE. She has been listed as one of the “Most Powerful Women” by India’s leading publications, Business Today, Fortune India and Forbes India.

She has a bachelors in Computer Engineering from Gujarat University and a Masters from Columbia University.

Nitin Jaiswal is the Head External Relations (Asia Pacific) for Bloomberg, the world's most trusted source for real-time and historical financial data, news, research, and analytics. He also sits on the Global Business Advisory Board of World Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA).

Based in Singapore, Nitin leverages Bloomberg's global network and expertise to work with senior governments, regulators, and business leaders through strategic initiatives to help advance capital market development in emerging and developed economies in Asia-Pac, a region shaping the global economic landscape. He has held various senior leadership roles at Bloomberg managing key businesses for Asia-Pac since joining the company in India in 1997.

Nitin regularly hosts "In Conversation" series across Asia-Pac, a platform that brings together influential political, regulator and senior business leaders in a small group to discuss topics that matter most to the business community.

An active contributor on LinkedIn on the Art of Effective Leadership, Nitin feels passionate about Asian Philosophy. He strongly feels that when Asian philosophy, with its rich history and culture, is blended with Western thoughts, it can play an important role in building the next generation of influential global leaders from Asia.

Website: www.pontoka.co

Mumbai-based Danish advisor Mathias B. Pontoppidan supports leading company managements and boards on the creation of tailor-made ESG strategies and its correlation with long-term bottom-line impact and sharpening of company USP's.

Mathias is the founder and Managing Partner of the ESG advisory firm, Pontoka, which specialises in the Indian market. Pontoka differentiates by working on deep substance matters of the various sub-themes under ESG - ranging from biodiversity, LCA, circularity, human rights due diligences, etc. - and its implementation complexities and acceleration strategies (organically and inorganically).

Mathias has lived and worked in India since 2012 and has a career spanning from M&A, private equity, hedge funds and ESG advisory for listed Indian companies, investment funds (both GP's and LP's) and global MNC's operating in India such as Novo Nordisk and Maersk.

Coloured by his Scandinavian background and engagements across the Indian investment ecosystem, Mathias enjoys connecting the dots between the world's ESG innovation hubs and turbocharging contextualised initiatives within Indian companies.

Aside from ESG-related activities, Mathias is on the Advisory Council of The Indian School of Public Policy (ISPP) and is the Vice Chair of the Indian division of The Danish Management Society (VL).

Alpesh Shah has extensive experience in transforming businesses across multiple sectors, including insurance, financial services, telecommunications and technology sectors in Asia, specifically India. Alpesh leads BCG’s CEO Advisory in Asia Pacific, and he led BCG’s India office from 2018 till 2023.

Across the Asia Pacific, Alpesh has helped multiple insurers, banks, AMCs, NBFCs & telcos in developing and implementing a wide range of strategies across many developing markets, covering a wide range of topics including regional (APAC) strategies, India entry strategies, new business build, break-out growth, defensive strategies for incumbents, distribution channel strategies, post-merger integration, business model innovation, organizational restructuring, operational effectiveness, etc.

Alpesh is the author of many reports on topics including insurance, payments, digital lending, and the India internet economy. He is also a member of the FICCI Insurance Committee and the CII Asset Management Committee in India.

Alpesh holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Engineering from the L.D. College of Engineering, Ahmedabad and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Anirban Mukherjee heads the Climate & Sustainability practice at BCG India. He leads a team of experts specializing in green finance, green business development, net zero strategies, decarbonization, and energy transition, driving large-scale transformations and thought leadership across various organizations.

Anirban has worked with multiple corporates, public sector entities, industry bodies, and policy bodies on engagements focused on net zero, energy transition, climate finance, low carbon business builds, and adaptation and resilience in the context of climate risks and vulnerability.

Anirban holds a Bachelors degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

Mayank heads Asset & Wealth management practice at BCG India and is a core leader of BCG’s Financial Services practice. At BCG, he has worked on a range of topics including strategy, sales acceleration, new business build, HR transformation, technology and digitization and change management across banks, NBFCs, asset managers & insurers.

Mayank has conducted multiple assignments with asset & wealth managers, defining their strategy, transformation agenda, digital business builds and new growth avenues. He is also well integrated in the ecosystem and is a regular speaker at industry body events. Mayank is also a member of CII Committee on NBFC regulatory reforms.

Mayank holds a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.