Board of Directors

Adi Godrej is Chairman of The Godrej Group, which is mainly privately held, over a 100 year-old family conglomerate, with operations in India and several other countries.

Mr. Adi Godrej has been President of several Indian Trade and Industrial Bodies and associations.

He is the Past Chairman of the Board of the Indian School of Business, and Past President of the Confederation of Indian Industry. He has been a member of the Dean's Advisory Council of the MIT Sloan School of Management, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies and a member of the Wharton Asian Executive Board. Mr. Godrej is also a patron of the Himalayan Club.

Mr. Godrej is a recipient of several awards and recognitions :

  • The Rajiv Gandhi Award 2002
  • The American India Foundation (AIF) Leadership in Philanthropy Award,2010
  • The Entrepreneur of the Year for the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2010
  • Best Businessman of the Year for the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2010
  • Chemexcil's Life Time Achievement Award 2010
  • AIMA-JRD Tata Corporate Leadership Award 2010
  • Bombay Management Association - Management Man of the Year Award 2010-2011
  • Qimpro Platinum Standard award for business in 2011
  • Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year 2012
  • The Padma Bhushan 2013
  • The Asian Awards, Entrepreneur of the Year 2013
  • The All India Management Association-Business Leader of the Year 2015
  • The Clinton Global Citizen Award 2016 for his Leadership in the Private Sector.
  • The Lifetime Achievement Award at the 11th CNBC AWAAZ Real Estate Awards 2016-17.
  • Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial and Social Peace” at the 61st Annual Convocation of XLRI in March, 2017.
  • Global Leadership Award at the U.S. India Business Council Leadership Summit, Washington, D.C. in June, 2017.
  • Lifetime Achievement Award at the Forbes India Leadership Awards 2017.
  • Shri. Pravinchandra V.Gandhi Award for "Excellence in Public Life" by the The Rotary Club of Bombay, 2018.
  • All India Management Association (IMA) Life Time Achievement Award for Management for the Year 2017.
  • Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) – Honoris Causa at the Amity University Convocation on 24th February, 2018.

Mr. Godrej holds a bachelor's and a master's degree from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.

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Vijay Crishna is the Executive Director of Lawkim Motors Group.

He joined Lawkim Ltd, a bankrupt light engineering company taken over by the Godrej Group at the behest of N.P. Godrej in 1977 after eight years of management experience in Kolkata and five years in the advertising industry in Mumbai and was able to help turn it around.

He is a B.A. (Economics) from St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi.

Vijay is also a Director of Godrej Industries, Godrej Agrovet and Precision Wires India Ltd. He serves as a Trustee of the Bombay Scottish Orphanage Society and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for

Technology and Management, Navi Mumbai, the President's International Advisory Board Colorado College and on the Advisory Panel of the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Beachhead Programme.

In 1991, Vijay established the Naoroji Godrej Centre for Plant Research at Shindewadi, Satara District, which researches and propagates rare and endangered species of medicinal plants endemic to the Western Ghats.

A Life Member of The Himalayan Club since 1973 - and now its Honorary Secretary – he has trekked in the Garhwal, Sikkim, Ladakh, Nepal and Tibet.

He has been active in theatre since 1965 in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.

Vijay joined the Board on 27th September, 1990.

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Nitin Nabar serves as a Director on the Board of Godrej Industries Limited. He is also the Manufacturing Council Head for the Godrej Group and the Executive Director and President, Godrej Industries Limited (Chemicals).

Nitin started his career with Godrej as an Executive Trainee in 1989 at the erstwhile Godrej Soaps Limited. Over the years, he has worked in leadership positions across diverse business functions including sales, marketing, commodities, exports, imports and purchase.

He played a key role in building and expanding the export market of the Chemicals business. Under his leadership, the business now exports products to over 80 countries.

Nitin also actively champions environmental sustainability initiatives across the business.

Nitin is the Chairman – Cosmetics of Chemexcil, an export promotion council for the chemicals industry. He has also been a member of the taskforce setup by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers to help in the growth of the oleochemicals industry in India.

Nitin has a B.Sc (Technology) degree from University of Mumbai, Department of Chemical Technology and an MBA from Welingkar Institute of Management, Development & Research in Mumbai.

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Nadir Godrej is a Non-executive Director of the company. He is the Managing Director of Godrej Industries and Chairman of Godrej Agrovet. He is also a Director of numerous firms including Godrej & Boyce Co Ltd, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, Indian Hotels Co Ltd and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

A veteran of the Indian industry, Nadir has played an important role in developing the animal feed, agricultural input and chemicals businesses owned by Godrej. His active interest in research related to these areas has resulted in several patents in the field of agricultural chemicals and surfactants.

With his tremendous experience and expertise, Nadir has also contributed to the development of a variety of industries by participating keenly in industry bodies such as the Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association of India, Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association, and Oil Technologists' Association of India.

Currently, Nadir is the President of Alliance Française de Bombay. For his contribution to Indo-French relations, the French Government has honoured him with the awards of "Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite" and "Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur".

A Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Chemical Engineering from Stanford University, Nadir completed his MBA from the Harvard Business School. He lives in Mumbai, India with his wife and three children.

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Jamshyd Godrej is the Chairman of the Board of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, USA.

Jamshyd Godrej is the former Chairman of Ananta Aspen Centre (previously known as Aspen Institute India), Chairman & Trustee of Ananta Centre. He is the President of World Wide Fund for Nature - India. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, India Resources Trust and Council on Energy, Environment and Water. He is a Director of World Resources Institute, USA. He is also a Trustee of the Asia Society, USA. He is a member of Toyota Motor's Global Advisory Board and Asia Pacific

Regional Advisory Committee. He is the Past President of Confederation of Indian Industry and also the Past President of the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association.

Jamshyd Godrej is the Chairman of the CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre. The Centre is housed in a LEED Platinum demonstration building which is the first green building in India and the greenest building in the world at the time when it was rated. The Green Business Centre is a Centre of Excellence for green buildings, energy efficiency, energy conservation, non-conventional energy sources, water policy, water conservation, etc.

Godrej and Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. manufactures and markets refrigerators; washing machines; air conditioners;

office furniture; home furniture; security equipment for banks (such as safes, strong room doors, bank lockers, etc.) and for commercial establishments and homes; locks and latches, forklift trucks and warehousing equipment; process equipment for chemical, petrochemical, refineries and allied industries; precision tools for sheet metal, zinc, aluminium; real estate development.

The Godrej group are leaders in home appliances, consumer durables, office equipment, industrial products, consumer products and services.

Jamshyd Godrej is an ardent yachting enthusiast and has done extensive cruising along the west coast of India, the Baltic & North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea.

The President of India conferred on Jamshyd Godrej the "Padma Bhushan" on 3rd April 2003.

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Tanya Dubash is a Executive Director of the company. She is Executive Director and Chief Brand Officer of the Godrej Group and is responsible for reinventing the Godrej Brand and charged with evolving the Group to a more Brand-driven organisation.

Tanya is a Director on the Boards of several Godrej Group companies including Godrej Industries Limited, Godrej Consumer Products Limited and Godrej Agrovet Limited. She is also the Chairperson of Godrej Nature's Basket. She heads the Strategic Marketing Group (SMG) that guides the Godrej Masterbrand and portfolio strategy, and chairs a Marketing Council comprising Group Marketing Heads.

Tanya is also on the Board of AIESEC. She is a Trustee of Brown University and a member of the Brown - India Advisory Council. She was recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2007.

She is AB cum laude, Economics & Political Science, Brown University, USA, and an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.

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Mahendran is a seasoned entrepreneur. He was Managing Director, Godrej Consumer Products from 2010 to 2013 and led the company's internationalisation efforts. In his earlier role as the Managing Director of Godrej Sara Lee, Mahendran played a pivotal role and steered the fortunes of the company since its inception and nurtured the Good Knight brand into an acknowledged 'Super Brand'.

Prior to his association with the Godrej Group, Mahendran was a partner with M/s R G N Price & Co before joining Transelektra Domestic Products Limited, as an Executive Director in 1987.

On Transelektra's takeover by the Godrej Group in 1994, he was nominated as Managing Director of the Company by the Godrej Group and continued in this capacity after Sara Lee Corp. acquired a 51% stake in 1995.

Mahendran is a founder member and President of the Home Insect Control Association (HICA) and an acknowledged authority on household pest control. He is also a Promoter-Director of Harvey Heart Hospitals, Chennai, a super-specialty hospital in cardiac care, and a founder member of the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

Mahendran served on the board of the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and is on several industry forums such as FICCI, CII, Crop Care Federation of India and the Pest Control Association of India. Mahendran graduated from Madras Loyola College in 1976 and proceeded to complete his Chartered Accountancy in 1979.

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Keki Elavia is a Chartered Accountant in Public Practice. He serves as a Director on the Board of various listed and unlisted companies.

He is a member of India UK Accountancy Task Force, constituted by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. He is also a trustee of educational and medical trusts.

The Reserve Bank of India appointed Keki as a member of the Indian Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, where he was the Chairman of its Audit and Corporate Governance Committee.

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Bala Balachandran began his teaching career in 1960 while a graduate student at Annamalai University, India. In 1967, he moved to the University of Dayton and in 1971, to Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, where he taught management courses while working on his doctorate. In 1973, he joined the Kellogg Graduate School of Management faculty. From 1979-83, he chaired the Department of Accounting and Information Systems and Decision Sciences. He is also Director of the Accounting Research Center.

Professor Balachandran's teaching interests include managerial accounting, auditing, management information systems, and mathematical programming.

He is one of three Kellogg faculty members who started the Information Resource Management Program (IRM) at Northwestern in 1974. He has authored more than 55 research articles and is currently writing a managerial accounting textbook with emphasis on cost management in an automated manufacturing environment. He is department editor in accounting for Management Science, associate editor for The Accounting Review and on the editorial boards of Contemporary Accounting Research, and the Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance.

Professor Balachandran's research deals with performance evaluation, cost management, audit planning, allocation models, and forecasting. His recent work includes auditors' legal liability and game theoretic cost allocation models with transfer pricing. His work has earned numerous scholastic honors, awards, and fellowships, and he serves as a consultant to senior management in industry, as well as to the U.S. Air Force, in the areas of accounting, forecasting, and strategic decision support systems. He has provided executive education for various companies and the government and is the Program Director for "Managing Cost Information for Effective Strategic Decisions", a 3-day programme conducted at the James L. Allen Center each year during the spring and fall.

Prof Balachandran is a BSc (Hons.), Mathematics, Statistics, MA 1961, MSc 1963, Applied Statistics, Annamalai University MSE 1969, Engineering, University of Dayton;

MSIA 1972, Business Administration, PhD 1973, Industrial Administration, Carnegie-Mellon University; CPA 1978; CMA 1979; CIA 1984.

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Naushad Forbes received his Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Stanford University and is PhD in Industrial Engineering. He also holds the B.A.S. in Industrial Engineering & History from the Stanford University.

He has been a Consulting Professor in the Management Science & Engineering program at Stanford University since 1987. He has a number of publications to his credit including the following: Forbes N. and D. Wield, From Followers to Leaders: Managing Technology in Newly Industrializing Countries. He was instrumental in developing courses in Technology and Policy in Newly Industrialized Countries and the Management of Technology in Firms in Newly Industrialized Countries.

Naushad Forbes has been elected as the Deputy Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Western Region for 2008 - 09. He is a Director, Forbes Marshall, India's leading Steam Engineering & Control Instrumentation company.

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Kavas Petigara is the Managing Partner of Scitech Corporation. He is a chemical consultant and a businessman and has been associated with chemical and allied business activities in India and abroad for many years.

Kavas completed his Bachelor's and Master's in Chemical Engineering, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. He is a director on the Board of Godrej Industries, Godrej Agrovet and Vora Soaps.

Kavas joined the Board on January 30, 2002.

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Kersi Dastur is a Chartered Accountant. He retired from the company as Executive Director, Finance. Kersi continues to serve on the Board of Godrej Industries Limited as a non-executive director.

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Amit Choudhury is Director, Godrej Industries Limited.

Amit holds a Master's degree in Economics and Master's in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. Amit was the Managing Director of Godrej Properties and retired from the services in April 2003. Currently he is an Independent Director on the Board of Godrej Properties.

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Saleem Ahmadullah has been serving as a Director on the Board of Godrej Industries Limited since 1995.

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Aspy Cooper is an Independent Director of Godrej Industries Limited.

Aspy has nearly 40 years of experience in accounting, finance and consulting. He is widely known for his expertise in general management consultancy, implementing accounting and organisational control systems, and corporate performance management solutions.

He drives projects with a focus on leveraging leading practices by defining requirements and controlling scope. He is also adept in managing risks and change.

Aspy was a partner at B.E. Billimoria & Co. Limited and Deloitte Haskins & Sells. He also served as National Director – Consulting, Deloitte India and served on the boards of Trent Limited and Tata Asset Management Limited.

Aspy graduated with a degree in Commerce from Bombay University and is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

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