Our speakers

Lopa Gandhi, Founder, Ugam foundation

Lopa Gandhi has over 15 years of experience in the field of education. She is the Founder of Ugam Education Foundation (June 2015) and Education Indeed Consultants. She has a Masters degree and has experience in teaching adolescents, curriculum design and development, HR management and coaching of NGO and government school teachers  and Head Masters.

She was a teacher, Principal Coach and Head of HR at the Akanksha Foundation. She has been involved as a Master Coach and a senior design team member with the Kaivalya Education Foundation in Mumbai. She led Muktangan as a Project Director. She has worked with many NGOs and is a trustee at Antarang Foundation and a managing committee member at Aarohi.

Lovaii Navlakhi, Founder and CEO, International Money Matters

Lovaii Navlakhi, is the Founder and CEO of International Money Matters. With over 30 years of top-notch industry experience, an MBA (Finance) from SP Jain Institute of Management, an ICWA, the distinction of being one of the first Certified Financial Planners (CFP) from India and a stellar reputation in the world of personal finance, Lovaii firmly believes in continuing education as a way of life.

He is oft quoted and widely read across publications and personal finance websites and TV channels. He has authored a book “A Layman’s Guide to Retirement Planning” published by OutlookMoney in 2007.

He was a Board Member of Financial Planning Standards Board, (FPSB) India from 2009 to 2011.

Lt. Gen. Dr. S.P. Kochhar, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)

Widely travelled and highly experienced, Lieutenant General Dr. S. P. Kochhar is a decorated military veteran and leader par excellence. He retired as the head of the ICT wing of the Indian Army where he was responsible for planning, executing, and operating all Telecom and IT networks of the Army as well as keeping his team of 100,000 fully trained and skilled. Prior to that he was Additional Director General Personnel of the Indian Army, handling HR and Empowerment of the 11-lakh strong Army.

He has a rich academic experience having been a member on the Executive Council of National Board of Accrediation, Jamia Millia Islamia and on the Academic Council of IGNOU, Veltech and others. He was an Adjunct Professor with BITS Pilani and IGNOU for a number of years. He was a member of interviewing boards of UPSC for Civil Services and Engineering Services. He has served / is serving as independent director on various Governmental and Organisational boards advising on future-proofing strategic initiatives and intrinsic risk mitigation. He was till recently the CEO of Telecom Sector Skill Council of India where he has brought in strategic partnerships with industry, universities, and his skill council in accordance with his Collaborative, Inclusive and Adaptive model. He understands the rural-urban divide, the international scenario for collaborations and brings forth sound business and technology solutions accordingly. His interests include using new-age technologies like Block Chain, IOT, Big Data, DSP, and Artificial Intelligence including AR and VR for proving optimum innovative solutions in the Indian context. He also has keen interests in 5G and its optimum utilization. A simple user interface, despite complexities backend, is his mantra.

He was the first CEO of Telecom Sector Skill council, a public-private partnership effectively collaborating with telecom majors like Airtel, Vodafone-idea, Reliance and a host of Universities and Colleges - thereby forwarding Indian Government’s agendas of Skill India and Digital Literacy and bringing livelihood to the citizen.

Lucian Wu, Managing Director, HQ Capital

Mr. Wu is a managing director of HQ Capital, based out of Hong Kong. A Chartered Accountant with twenty years of experience in primary/secondary fund and direct investments, including stints with Henderson Private Capital and Electra Partners Asia, Mr. Wu has successfully deployed and harvested capital across four market cycles in Asia, multiple geographies and strategies since 1995. Immediately prior to joining Auda, Mr. Wu was for six years a managing director with Paul Capital, the global secondaries firm, co-heading its Asian business.

Fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese, Mr. Wu holds a BSc in Mathematics with First Class Honours from Imperial College, University of London, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales as well as the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Luis Miranda, Chairman, Board of Advisers, Centre for Civil Society

Luis has been involved in setting up 2 companies. In 2002, Luis set up IDFC Private Equity. In 2010 he stepped down as President & CEO and remained as Chairman till the end of 2011.  IDFC Private Equity won many awards, including Infrastructure Investor’s “Asian Infrastructure Fund Manager of the Year 2009” and PEI’s “Best Private Equity Firm in India – 2009”. He was earlier a Partner at ChrysCapital. Prior to that, he spent 11 years in sales and trading and was a key member of the start-up team at HDFC Bank, India’s leading private sector bank. He has also worked at HSBC, Citibank, KPMG and Price Waterhouse.

Luis co-chairs the Global Advisory Board (Asia Cabinet) of the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago and is Chairman, Board of Advisors, Centre for Civil Society. He was a Director of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA) and was Co-Chairman of the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA), where he led the transformation of the association. Luis was a member of the World Economic Forum's Expert Committee on Infrastructure Investing.

Luis received an MBA from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

M K Dhanuka, MD, Dhanuka Agritech Ltd

Mr M K Dhanuka is MD of Dhanuka Agritech Ltd holds Bachelors Degree in Commerce (Hons) from SRCC, Delhi University. He has been associated with the Group since its inception in 1980. He has been Incharge of various Departments such as Purchase, Finance and Accounts over these years and has contributed substantially in enhancing the profitability of the organization through meticulous negotiations with the suppliers.

At different points, he has been critical in maintaining relationship with different banks and organizing finance for smooth operations of the organization. He is a member of the Shareholders Grievances and Share Transfer Committee and brings with him expertise in these areas for proper functioning of the Board. He is a President of Haryana Pesticides Manufacturers Association since 2006. He is also Director on the Board of Golden Overseas Ltd., Dhanuka Laboratories Ltd., Dhanuka Infotech Pvt Ltd., Madhuri Designs ‘n’ Exports Pvt Ltd.

A personality with philanthropic mind and highly active in social activities through membership of Lions Club, Alaknanda, New Delhi.He is also a Trustee of Dhanuka Ashram, a Charitable Guest house for devotees visiting the Hindu pilgrim town of Vrindavan.He is a Trustee of Aadarsh Vidya Mandir, Ratan Garh, a school being run in the home town of forefathers of Dhanuka family.

M Murali, MD, Shriram Properties Pvt. Ltd

Mr. M MURALI, 46 yrs, an enterprising and successful entrepreneur is the Managing Director of Shriram Properties, the property development arm of USD 10 billion plus business conglomerate Shriram Group, Chennai. The Group manages assets of over INR 90,000 Crs

An Alumnus of Harvard Business School Mr. Murali is a civil Engineer and he, at the age of 28, in 1997 took over the reins of SHRIRAM PROPERTIES. From a mere USD 0.50 million company in 1996-97, Shriram properties, to-day is a multi million company with nearly USD 4 billion business across India. He has been instrumental in attracting FDI and Non FDI investments of nearly USD 435 million from majors like Walton Street Capital, Starwood Capital Group, TPG Capital, TATA opportunities fund, Sun Apollo, ICICI Prudential, ASK, Motilal Oswal and Amplus. Trust, Transparency and credibility are his watchwords.

Mr. Murali is a most sought after panelist for High - Level National and International seminars and forums besides invited speaker of world renowned business schools. He is on the Governing Council of many Real Estate Bodies in India .

In October 2014, Associated chamber commerce and Industry, while determining Real Estate Excellence Awards adjudged Shriram Properties as the ‘Best developer of Southern Region’. This recognition comes to Shriram Properties for the second successive year, having been adjudged similarly in the year 2013 too.

Shriram Properties is also adjudged as the ‘Best Realty Investment Partner in India’ by ASSOCHAM for the 2014.

Mr. Murali’s desire is to ever remain as the most trusted and progressive developer in the country.

M S Unnikrishnan, MD & CEO, Thermax Ltd

M. S. Unnikrishnan is the Managing Director & CEO of Thermax Group, the energy and environment solutions major. The company has a global presence and operates in the areas of heating, cooling, power, water and waste management, air pollution control and chemicals.

Mr. Unnikrishnan began his career with Thermax after graduating from the NIIT, Nagpur in 1982 in Mechanical engineering. He has also completed his Advanced Management Programme from the Harvard Business School, USA.

Joining Thermax as a graduate trainee, he went on to establish the marketing set up for the Energy division of Thermax in the Western Region.

From 1987 and 1997, Mr. Unnikrishnan worked with EID Parry as the Head of Engineering Division and with Terrazzo Inc, U.A.E. as AGM heading the manufacturing, marketing and commercial operations.

After rejoining Thermax as General Manager in 1997, he became a member of the Executive Council in 2000. He also led the company’s project business as Group Business Head before being elevated as the Managing Director & CEO in 2007.

Mr. Unnikrishnan is a passionate advocate of a sustaining ecosystem of innovation and technology for national resurgence. He co-chairs the National Committee for Capital goods of FICCI. He is Member of the Development Council constituted by the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India, to create strategies for the industrial development of the country.  He is also a member on the Energy Advisory Committee of Kerala Government’s Planning Board.

Mr. Unnikrishnan is actively involved in initiatives for the improvement of technical education in India. He is a member of the AICT Jury Committee for annual ranking of technical and management institutes of the country. He is also a Member of the Apex Council to implement the ‘Prime Minister’s Fellowship Scheme for Doctoral Research’, a joint initiative from the government and industry to encourage industrial research and nurture talent.

Mr. Unnikrishnan has been honoured with the ‘Asia Innovator Award’ at the 11th CNBC Asia Business Leaders Awards, held in Banghok in November 2012. He was awarded “for his inventive thinking in business and his leadership in an organization that has innovation at its core”. Earlier in 2010, he was also awarded the ‘Distinguished Alumni’ of NIIT, Nagpur.

Mr. Unnikrishnan is known for his strategic and human relations skills and is a champion of green technologies.

M. G. Dayanidhi, MD, Asia Pacific, Digital Chocolate

Mr. M. G. Dayanidhi serves as Managing Director - Asia Pacific at Digital Chocolate IT and Gaming Solutions Private Limited. Mr. Dayanidhi is responsible for execution and successful delivery of projects. Under his leadership, project teams constantly strive to improve the project execution and delivery processes to benefit both SD and its clients. Mr. Dayanidhi has accrued 15 years of experience in the software industry playing varied roles as a Developer, Project Manager, Program Manager, Vice President and Business Unit Head in different start up and established software companies. He has worked in the areas of Mathematical Modelling and Simulation, Embedded Systems, Enterprise Solutions, Content Management and Learning Solutions while handling clients spread globally. Mr. Dayanidhi has managed big teams comprising of about 100 people, working on several large projects including enterprise solution, distributed web applications and product development. In his previous assignments, he has worked closely to manage partnerships for his companies with the likes of Microsoft, Oracle and Sun Microsystems. With a strong focus on project and delivery management through out his career, at SD, Mr. Dayanidhi plays the role of Delivery Head being responsible for execution and successful delivery of projects. Mr. Dayanidhi holds BE in Computer Science and MBA from a reputed Business School in Bangalore, India.

M. Udaia Kumar, Managing Director, Share Microfin Ltd

Dr Udaia Kumar is the Founder and Managing Director of SHARE Microfin Ltd, one of the largest microfinance Institutions in India. A Postgraduate in Commerce with a Masters in Business Administration and a Doctorate in Finance and Management, Dr Kumar is credited with pioneering the concept of micro-finance in India. Dr Kumar is a member of the committee constituted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India to review the status of Housing Finance in India. Dr Kumar is the recipient of several awards, including the Lifting up the World with Oneness Heart Award presented by the UN Peace Foundation in New York City, the Change Makers Award by Dr Reddy Foundation, Excellence in Micro Credit Award presented by the Rockefeller Foundation and GF-USA and "Udyog Rattan Award" and "Excellence Award" by the Institute of Economic Studies, New Delhi for his pioneering contribution in the field of development finance and financial inclusion.