«`¨´·.¸¸.*Kacker and Daughter*¸¸.·´¨`»

Professional Management & Advisory Group

The company is driven by the knowledge and skills of a group of widely experienced professionals – civil servants, diplomats, public sector executives and private sector professionals, lawyers - who bring tremendous value to the company. The PM&AG not only charts the strategy of the company but handles specific projects, assigning them to a combination of members and experts, depending upon the nature of the project.

Mukesh Kacker

Mukesh Kacker has almost three decades of experience of working in the Government as an I.A.S. officer of the 1979 batch (before he opted for voluntary retirement to work in the area of infrastructure), and has held important senior positions, both in policy formulation roles as well as in executing capacities. As Member, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), he was in the vanguard of personnel leading India's highways revolution and was instrumental in planning and executing a major portion of the Golden Quadrilateral. The country's first major project on PPP basis- the six-lane Jaipur Kishangarh Project - was negotiated and finalized by him. The first Greenfield Expressway of India - the Ahmedabad Vadodara Expressway - was completed under his leadership. He also created the model for the privatization of all post-construction activities like operations & maintenance, tolling and highway traffic management system (HTMS). As Joint Secretary (Petrochemicals), he drafted the National Policy on Petrochemicals and conceptualized the policy on Investment Regions anchored by big Petrochemical units. In the late 80s and early 90s, he held the positions of Executive Director, NAFED, Director, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Private Secretary to the Minister of HRD, in the Government of India. In his state cadre of Madhya Pradesh, Mukesh has held various positions including Education Secretary to the Government, Managing Directors of two state Public Sector Undertakings and Secretary to the Chief Minister.

Mukesh holds a Masters degree in Economics (Public Policy) from Harvard University, U.S.A. He was Allahabad University's topper in B.Sc (Physics, Mathematics, Statistics) as well as in M.A. (Political Science).

Mukesh’s skills and strengths include a vast reservoir of inter-sectoral knowledge, particularly in areas relating to infrastructure and core economy, in-depth knowledge of the working of the Government (both Central and State) at policy making levels, well honed decision making skills and excellent communication and analytical skills.

Mukesh Kacker writes for The Economic Times, Financial Express and Business Standard where his articles, mainly on infrastructure issues, have been featured on the editorial and policy pages.

Mukesh has also served as Director General, Institute for Competition & Regulation, a not-for-profit research and capacity building organization working in the areas of competition policy/law and regulation of infrastructure.

In view of his experience in the infrastructure sector, the Government of India inducted him as Member, Task Force on Infrastructure Development and Mega Projects. Mukesh wrote the recommendations of the Task Force, relating to highways and land acquisition & rehabilitation.

Mukesh has also worked as a Technical Expert on the Justice B.N.Srikrishna Committee that was formed by the Government of India to advise it on the situation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. A crucial report on an important area of governance was researched, written and submitted by him.

Mukesh Kacker also serves as Independent Director on the Boards of two companies - Arshiya International Ltd., a Mumbai based and BSE & NSE listed logistics-infrastructure company, and, Entertainment World Developers Ltd., a Mumbai based urban infrastructure company.

Mukesh also holds the position of Advisor to Vestergaard Frandsen, a Swiss multinational working the field of public health.

Deepak Bagla

Deepak is a Partner in the 3i Group (India Region), an international investor focusing on private equity, infrastructure and debt management.

Deepak joined 3i in March 2007, bringing two decades of work experience starting with the World Bank in Washington DC, followed by a stint with a major Indian business conglomerate, where he was involved with corporate planning and establishing green field projects. Deepak worked with Citigroup since 1989 in various roles including structured financial solutions for State Governments, Capital Markets, Financial Institutions and public/private Corporations. From 1996 he was involved with global equity offerings by Corporations in Europe and Asia. Deepak was a member of the Banking & Finance Committee of the Bureau of Indian Standards (ISO affiliate 2005-06). He was also a member of the committee established by the Government of India to recommend corporate governance norms for Independant Directors (2006). Deepak has a Bachelors degree with honours in Economics from St Stephens College, Delhi University, and a Masters in International Trade & Finance and Diplomacy, from the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington DC.

Deepak is a key member of the 3i India team that administers the 3i India Infrastructure Fund, a $1.2 billion fund that applies the investment expertise of its team in the rapidly growing Indian market to invest in roads, power, aviation and other infrastructure projects. Deepak has been instrumental in finalizing 3i's investments in Soma Enterprise Ltd. and Adani Power private Ltd.

Deepak brings strong financial sector skills to the PM&AG of the company.

Ravi Singhania

Ravi Singhania is the founder member and Senior Partner of the law firm, Singhania & Partners. He heads the corporate practice at the New Delhi office with an experience of more than 17 years in both national and international arena. He has advised foreign corporations, ministries, large PSUs, banks and multinationals on legal issues relating to Mergers & Acquisitions, Foreign Direct investments, Cross-border Transactions, Project Finance, Capital markets, Public Private Partnership, Investment Options, Disinvestment, Corporatization and Debt & Equity offerings. Ravi is also an adviser to the World Bank on issues relating to Foreign Direct Investment.

Ravi is a Director on the Board of CRISIL Ltd., Assets Care and Reconstruction Enterprise Ltd., Unitech Ltd. and also on the Board of the Indian subsidiaries of multinational companies such as America Online, McGraw-Hill, Konecranes, National Instruments, Powerwave etc. Ravi is also on the Board of Directors of TerraLex, an international association of more than 150 leading law firms around the world.

Ravi is a key member of the Profesional Management & Advisory Board of Kacker & Daughter and brings to the table legal skills relating to Mergers & Acquisitions, Foreign Direct Investment, Cross-border Transactions, Disinvestment, Public Private Partnership, Project Finance, Capital Markets, Corporatization and Debt & Equity offerings.

Rakesh Shankar

Rakesh Shankar is a noted author on environmental issues, energy sector expert, negotiator and former diplomat. He has advised and lectured widely on environmental issues. He holds a Bachelor degree in Science (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics), a Masters degree in Philosophy and a PhD in Environmental Legislation & Policy Formulation.

In the recent past he has held the position of Dean at the Faculty of Management, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun. He is also an adjunct professor at the Department of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and a visiting scientist at the Sustainable Development Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Canada. His professional activities include membership at the International Society of Environmental Botanists, National Botanical Research Institute.

Dr. Shankar's career experience spans over 25-plus years of service as a diplomat (as an I.F.S officer) in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Canada, including a stint as India's acting Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dr. Shankar subsequently served as Chief Negotiator for the Government of the Northwest Territories in Canada and worked with the "Sustainable Development Research Initiative" at the University of British Columbia, pioneering world-class sustainability research to reconcile economic, ecological, and social imperatives.

Dr. Shankar has also been India's acting Ambassador to Zambia and Hungary and served as Director, Multilateral Economic Relations, at the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. In his position as Director, Dr. Shankar oversaw matters related to the World Trade Organization, education, science and technology, environment and trade with numerous countries.

Dr. Shankar brings tremendous knowledge and experience of environmental issues to the PM&AG.

In view of his experience in the infrastructure sector, the Government of India inducted him as Member, Task Force on Infrastructure Development and Mega Projects.

Subodh Kumar Gupta

Subodh Kumar Gupta has thirty three years of experience in energy and related infrastructure sectors. In his professional career he has been associated with the setting up of large power plants and has also handled the sourcing, including mining, of coal for various private companies. He is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.

Presently he is President at the Era Infra Ltd., a company engaged in setting up large coal mining and power generation projects in India and abroad. Earlier, he worked as Director (Project) for setting up a 2x507.5 MW thermal power plant at Mangalore for Lanco Infratech.

Mr. Gupta worked for NTPC, a Navratna Company of the Government of India, in progressively different capacities for about thirty years and handled many key assignments such as marketing of NTPC’s consultancy wing and business opportunity evaluation in Africa and Indonesia. At NTPC he was also engaged in the development of seven coal mines having 6 billion tonnes of reserves. He was also in charge of the construction, erection and maintenance of NTPC’s six thermal power stations at Talcher Super Thermal Power Project (6x500MW), Singrauli (5x200MW + 2x500MW), Balco (4x67.5 MW), Badarpur (705 MW), Unchahar (4x210MW) and ATPP, Gujarat (2x125MW).

He is a key member of the policy advisory group at K&D and attends to the regulatory and management aspects related to power generation, coal mine development etc.

Ashok Pratap Rai

Mr. Rai has a blend of professional experience in the Government and private sector where he has held senior positions for almost 25 years. He started his career as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) with the Minister of Telecommunications, Govt. of India. He has also been associated with the Ministries of Railways, Water Resources, and Petroleum & Natural Gas as OSD to the respective Ministers.

In the private sector, Mr. Rai has been associated with a number of infrastructure development companies such as Club One Air, Gujarat Positra Port Infrastructure Ltd., Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd., Gujarat Pipavav Shipyard Ltd., Mumbai Integrated SEZ Ltd. and Himachal Tourism & Infrastructure Development Ltd.

Mr. Rai has played a vital role in introducing and pioneering the concept of Special Economic Zones in India while working with SKIL Infrastructure on one of the first SEZs approved in India i.e. Positra SEZ. As Director, SKIL Infrastructure he also worked on a Tourism SEZ in Himachal Pradesh and lent his skills to developing a township and a world class International Airport at UNA.

He currently serves as Director Operations, Club One Air Pvt. Ltd., the largest non-scheduled operator in Asia for air charters. He has vast experience in the field of aviation infrastructure and fleet management. He is also associated with Stabilg Road solutions Pvt. Ltd., a company pioneering a path-breaking aggregate-free road building technology, as a Director.

Mr. Rai brings aviation sector skills and knowledge to the table in the PM&AG.