• His understanding of micro enterprise and of MSME addressing challenges of MSME to large
• Acknowledged as an expert globally for comprehending the nuances of different forms of organisations, family held, unlisted and listed entities, coop to FPOs, SHGs to formal structured orgs

An IRS officer from the 2008 batch, currently serving as Director at Niti Aayog, overseeingIndustry and Foreign Investment. With expertise in taxation, investigation, and policy-making,have held key positions in the Income Tax department, including assessment, TDS, headquartersand Investigation Wing. Headed the Foreign Asset Investigation Unit, administering the BlackMoney Act, and handled Automatic Exchange of Information for India, investigation intoFATCA/CRS cases,Offshore Leaks Cases and financial fraud investigations. I’ve also served inCBDT, Ministry of Finance, addressing critical taxation,policy and infrastructure issues.

MBA from IIMA

Ex international banker with Citibank

Harvard Kennedy School and Wharton School alum Founder

AAvishkaar Micro Venture Capital Fund Champion, Veto 4 India

Physics graduate from Delhi University and MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, Arvind built a successful international banking career with Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank in India and in Singapore. In 1999, he developed keen interest in the micro credit movement gaining traction in Bangladesh under later day Nobel Laureate Prof. Yunus and was inspired by how small amount of credit can empower poor people and create livelihoods. He visited Bangladesh and studied the model.

Extending the idea of micro loans, Arvind formulated the concept of micro venture capital. Small risk capital to help entrepreneurs in rural areas to develop their innovations and run pilot projects to prove and finetune their ventures. This led to creation of first of its kind micro venture capital fund in the world to support rural entrepreneurs. AAvishkaar India Micro Venture Capital Fund was set up in 2001.

Over the years, AAvishkaar has attained heights beyond our initial imagination. This venture has now served over 144 million underserved customers and disbursed a total capital of USD 5.1 billion. Credit for this goes to an incredible founding team as Arvind withdrew from day-to-day operations.

Arvind spent next 2 decades on implementation focused consulting and coaching company, Quest ontheFRONTIER. Arvind tapped on recently retired executives with valuable industry and functional experiences in the leading companies to help smaller organizations develop their people and grow their business. Our approach is practical and implementation focused. We work with the people in the business to help them plan their ambition and achieve their goals. Quest served few hundred clients in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa,

After working and living for 3 decades in Singapore and later in Shanghai, Arvind relocated back to India in 2023 and started working on MSMEs. If we are to achieve our national ambition of Viksit Bharat, MSMEs are to play a crucial role, grow manifold and create much needed jobs. With the mission of helping ambitious MSME owners scale up 10 times in 7 years, Arvind is setting up NEXT Coaching for aspiring MSME owners. To engage these aspiring MSME owners, he conceived MSME Mahotsav to celebrate successful MSME owners, share new technologies and innovative financial solutions and support them to the NEXT stage of their growth. 10 times in 7 years.

MSME owners and entrepreneurs create jobs and are true Nation Builders. A new Nation Builder award is being launched to recognize and celebrate those who create jobs. Many MSMEs of yesteryears have gone on to become global giants. Winners of the Nation Builder awards are felicitated at a grand function and given visibility in the national media like CNBC.

IIM Ahmedabad alum, Arvind further enhanced his leadership capabilities through specialized programs at Harvard Kennedy School and The Wharton School. Motivated by his early life experiences in a small village and a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunities he received, Arvind is committed to contributing to India’s development. A proud Indian, he also ran a campaign for permanent seat for India in the United Security Council. www.veto4india.org He believes that with some help and guidance, MSMEs can achieve much greater heights and help us achieve our national ambition, Viksit Bharat.

• Organization: Power Grid Corporation of India Limited
• Education: B. E in Electrical Engineering (DCE), MBA, PMP Diploma in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Machine Learning (IIIT-B)
• Experience: 14 years of rich experience in Power Transmission Sector spanning across Project Management and Supply Chain Management functions like Review and Monitoring of Power Transmission Projects, Procurement Functions, Supplier Analysis and Development, Process & System Audits, MSE Vendor Up-gradation, Bid Analytics, WB & ADB Procurement, SAP Material Management and so on.

Abhishek Dalmiya, the Head – Strategic Alliances & Developer Ecosystem at Tally Solutions, brings with him almost 28 years of cross-industry experience. With experience across diverse industries, Abhishek entered the technology space in 2000 by co-founding a start-up in the mobile application space and headed it for 8 years.

In his 15+ years at Tally, Abhishek has owned multiple Tally versions and created a foundation for revolutionizing digital banking for businesses. In his current role, Abhishek is responsible for ensuring that his team always delivers the right product in the market which delights the customers at scale. His immediate challenge includes enabling the developer ecosystem of Tally to deliver great add-ons and make Tally easier to integrate with. Due to his experience, education, and exposure to the SME market, Abhishek can visualize why the product can positively impact SME businesses.

Though an MBA in Finance, Abhishek has always believed that technology can bring huge changes in the lives of people and businesses.

Mr. Shreyansh Durgesh is an experienced payments professional who has worked for over 23+years in technology consulting and financial services industry across geographies – US, UK andAsia. In these roles, he has built products, launched technology solutions, evangelized newproducts and driven strategic business initiatives with banks, payment processors andecosystem stakeholders. Prior to Aurionpro Payments, Shreyansh had worked at paymentcompanies like PayPal, Visa and American Express. He holds an MBA degree from the NationalUniversity of Singapore.

Passionate Technology Evangelist with diverse IT experience in Technical Leadership & Strategy,Pre Sales, Solution Design & Architecture, Product Development & Program Management.Currently working as a Director Partner Technology Lead at Microsoft India responsible to driveoverall technology strategy with the Microsoft managed partners to accelerate capability andcapacity across the Microsoft Cloud Technologies. She has successfully helped customers andpartners to better utilize technology solutions with the innovative solution and thetransformation journey, while staying focused on understanding how and when technologyshould be used to solve organizational problems to address customer’s business goals.

With over 17 years in the IT industry, Surya leads Product & Engineering at greytHR, a cloud-based HRMS platform trusted by over 30,000 businesses across 25+ countries. As a key sponsor of MSME Mahotsav 2025, greytHR is committed to empowering MSMEs through technology-driven HR solutions. Surya specializes in architecting integrated Hire-to-Retire platforms and implementing automation-first strategies that simplify HR operations. His work has enabled businesses to enhance employee experiences, optimize workforce management, and navigate the evolving HR landscape with agility. At MSME Mahotsav 2025, Surya will share insights on leveraging technology to drive MSME growth, focusing on practical approaches to digital transformation in HR processes.

• Co-founded a professional service company with 15 + employees in the domain of patents and intellectual property
• More than a decade of entrepreneur experience in working with cross jurisdiction clientele, especially for Japanese technology and automakers
• Involved in representing clients in first of its kind patent litigation in Artificial Intelligence space at Delhi High Court
• Assisted 150 + clients in India, Japan, Sri Lanka and United States in obtaining 500 + patents for their technologies/ inventions globally
• More than 15 global publications in field of patents & IP Rights in India, UK and Japan
• Actively engaged in delivering lecturers in area of subject matter expertise in India and overseas
• Strong experience in working in automation and mobility domain, especially for Japanese car and ancillary companies
• Actively working with academia of various National Institute of Technology (NITs) in varied technology domain to obtain their patents

M.B.A with more than 15+ Years of rich and extensive experience in stock exchange infield of business development & Financial Market. With more than 14 certifications in thefinancial market he is also NCMP level 3 certified market professional. Holding executiveMBA from IIM Lucknow, He is also certified on dynamics of foreign exchange from CBOT(Chicago Board of Trade) & currently heading and leading Listing IPO & SME Dept for BSENorth Region

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Pune and the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Brigadier Vivek Verma (Retd) was commissioned in the Regiment of Artillery in 1989. He has over 35 years of active service experience across all terrains and operations. He commanded an artillery regiment along the Northern Borders and commanded a Divisional and Corps Artillery Brigades along an active LC and Counter-Terrorism environment in J&K. He was a Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade during Operation Parakram and was Colonel General Staff of Operations of an Infantry Division. He has been an Artillery Advisor to the Botswana Defence Forces as part of the Indian Army Training Team. He was closely associated with youth affairs as the Group Commander of the NCC at Patna. He superannuated as Deputy Managing Director (Administration) at the Army Welfare Housing Organisation in 2024.

A keen China observer, he holds two Master’s degrees- Weapons Technology from Pune University and Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University, Chennai. He completed a Master of Philosophy from Panjab University, Chandigarh and holds a doctorate from Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, on Non-Contact Warfare. He completed his National Development Course at the National Defence University, Beidou, Taiwan. He had been closely associated with the reports on issues of strategic significance as the Deputy Director at the Indian Army Think Tank, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi and Director of Land Warfare Systems at the Perspective Planning Branch of the Indian Army Headquarters. He is also a visiting faculty to the University of Ladakh.

He has authored a book titled “Non-Contact Warfare—An Appraisal of China’s Military Capabilities,” which explores China’s military capabilities to deal with the new paradigm of Non-Contact Warfare. He has also published scores of researched articles related to Non-Contact Warfare and Emerging Technologies with various think tanks and publication houses.

Brigadier Vivek Verma is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the United Services Institute of India and is associated with the Non-Contact Warfare and Emerging Technologies study at the Centre of Atm Nirbhar Bharat. He heads the USI’s Cyber Awareness Initiative and has imparted cyber awareness to more than 5,000 citizens over the past three months.

He can be contacted at viveverm@gmail.com.

Maj Gen (Dr) Abhay Dayal, Ati Vishishth Seva Medal, Vishishth Seva Medal (Retd), is an alumnus of Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.He was commissioned into Regiment of Artillery in June 1989.

The General Officer has had an excellent professional career and has qualified on the prestigious Army courses of ‘Long Gunnery Staff Course’ at School of Artillery, Devlali, ‘Defence Services Staff Course’ at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, ‘Higher Defence Management Course’ at College of Defence Management, Secunderabad and ‘National Security and Strategic Studies Course’ at National Defence College, New Delhi.

His career highlights include command of a Medium Artillery Regiment equipped with Bofors Guns, a Mountain Artillery Brigade in the Eastern Sector, an Infantry Brigade in the Western Sector and an elite Mountain Strike Infantry Division in the Eastern Sector. His staff assignments include tenures as a Brigade Major of a Mountain Brigade, United Nations Military Observer in Democratic Republic of Congo, Colonel General Staff of a RAPID division in the Western Sector. His instructional appointments include Instructor in Gunnery at the School of Artillery, Devlali and as Colonel Directing Staff at the College of Defence Management, Secunderabad, besides two tenures at the Integrated Headquarters of MoD (Army), New Delhi.

He has superannuated from Military service after 36 glorious years. In his last assignment in the Army, he was holding the coveted appointment of ADG Acquisition Tech (Army), MoD, dealing with Capital Acquisition Cases of weapons and equipment for the Indian Army. In the field of Capital acquisition, he has over seven years of experience. He also represented the MoD at an international session on ‘Armament and Defence Economics for the Asia Pacific Region’ in France during November 2022.

For his distinguished service, he has been awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal by the Honourable President of India and General Officer Commanding in Chief Commendation of Central Command and Western Command, twice.

The General officer quests to live up to the definition of a ‘Soldier – Scholar’. He has three Masters degrees in Weapon Systems, Management and Defence & Strategic Studies, two M Phil degrees, one each in Business Management and Defence and Strategic Studies. He has also been conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree.

The General Officer was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers and earned prestigious accolades during his training. He was awarded the President’s Gold Medal at the National Defence Academy (NDA) for being First in Order of Merit and later received the Sword of Honour at the Indian Military Academy (IMA).

Over an illustrious career, General Anand commanded an Armoured Engineer Regiment and an Engineer Brigade in a Strike Corps and served as the Chief Engineer of the South Western Command. During the Kargil War, he controlled operations as the Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade and later served as a principal staff officer in a Counter-Insurgency Force. His instructional tenures include assignments at the IMA and the College of Military Engineering.

General Anand was selected for several prestigious professional courses, including the Defence Services Staff Course (DSSC), the Higher Defence Management Course (HDMC), and the National Defence College (NDC).

He has extensive experience in domestic and foreign defence procurement, holding three key appointments in this domain. He has also represented India in numerous international delegations and defence cooperation conferences, engaging with 17 countries.

Academically, he is a Mechanical Engineer, holds a master’s degree in strategic studies and Defence Management, and earned a Doctorate in General Management, focusing on the indigenisation of the defence industry.

Post-retirement, General Anand served as the Secretary General of the Highway Operators Association in the private sector. Currently, he is a Professor (PhD) and Mentor at the National Defence College. As director of the Centre for Emerging Technologies for Atma Nirbhar Bharat (USI-CETANB), he works at the intersection of geopolitics and emerging technologies, driving initiatives to promote self-reliance in the defence sector.

• Education: B.SC, CAIIB, Diploma in Treasury, Investment and Risk Management,ACAMS
• Presently heading SME Business Vertical of State Bank of India, New DelhiCircle and responsible for SME business growth and quality of assets.
• New Delhi Circle consists of 4 states including Delhi, NCR part of Haryana,Uttarakhand and Western part of UP with business portfolio of more thanRs.35,000 Cr.
• Extensive experience of more than 26 years
• Experience across various assignments in Credit/Advances/Trade/Treasuryacross different geographies including New York and Antwerp, Belgium.
• Handled various industries and exposures of large corporates as well as MSMEunits.

Mr. Puneet Mahajan is a Vice President at IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Co. Ltd, where he drives strategic initiatives and growth. His professional journey began with a strong foundation, contributing significantly to business expansion in the insurance sector.

Some of his key accomplishments include:
– Vice President at IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Co. Ltd and with the company since May 2001
– Key role as State Head for Delhi & Uttarakhand and is involved actively in strategic planning and execution for business growth

Education:
– St. Francis De Sales School, N Delhi
– PVPIT, Sangli (1994-1998)

Skills:
– Deep understanding of industry dynamics.
– Commitment to driving innovation for business development.

• Vivek is a seasoned banking & finance professional with over two decades of extensive experience in the supply chain finance industry. Worked with the industry leaders like IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank and YES Bank, where he has shared his expertise in the credit assessment function and supply chain finance space.
• Currently, he is Chief Financial Officer at M1xchange. Prior to this, he had joined M1xchange in 2017 as Regional Head, where he was instrumental in business development for the North & East zone. He is an industry expert and he takes it as his responsibility to create constant awareness about the TReDS Platform among bankers, corporates and MSMEs at various forums, industry association meetings and RBI sessions.
• His past work experience has enriched him in more ways than we can imagine. His responsibility in creating base for Supply Chain Finance business from scratch for North Zone for YES Bank, handling corporate relationships in North Zone for Supply chain product for ICICI Bank and managing the credit appraisal of Home Loan proposals of North Zone for IDBI Bank has carved him into one of the greatest names in the industry.
• Vivek is a qualified Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and he graduated in Commerce, from the Lucknow University. After work, he turns into an avid traveller and has great love for books and music too.

• Dr. Rajeev Ranjan, from the 1985 batch of the Indian Administrative Service has handled several important assignments in his over 36-years-long service and has the unique distinction of occupying the highest levels in Government both at the National as well as the State (as Secretary in Government of India and Chief Secretary in the Government of Tamil Nadu). He began his career as Sub-Collector in Tamil Nadu and after deputation in GoI in different spells became the Chief Secretary in Tamil Nadu Government in February, 2021.
• Academic Qualifications/Training: Dr. Ranjan holds a degree in Physics (Honours), an MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad, PG degree in Public Policy from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a Ph.D. in Management Sciences (Intellectual Property Rights- IPRs) from Anna University. He has attended several training programs in reputed institutions in India and abroad viz, IIMs, ASCI, on Ethics and Governance in Univ. of California, Berkeley, USA (2018); Best Practices in Managing Public Private Partnerships in Cambodia (2018); Management Leadership Programme in Monash Univ., Australia (2017); Professional training in Columbia Univ., USA (2015); Leadership and Management in LSE, UK (2011); Tax Analysis and Revenue forecasting in Duke Univ., USA (2009) etc.
• Government of India (GoI): As Director and Joint Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Union Ministry of Industries and Commerce during April 2000 to June 2007, he was involved in revamping intellectual property laws, particularly amendments to Patents and Industrial designs, creating awareness on IPR issues and modernization of the intellectual property offices as project in-charge involving construction of new IP offices in the four Metros, recruitment of examiners, computerization and networking of the offices leading to significant improvement in their functioning which was widely appreciated. He was instrumental in setting up of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) and preparation of National Manufacturing Strategy and National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme (NMCP) as Chief/Joint Secretary. He also represented GoI in various international conferences/meetings, including World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO- Assemblies, PCT, SCP, IGC etc.), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Asian Productivity Organization (APO) etc.
  On his next deputation to the GoI in September 2018, he was posted as Special Secretary in the GST Council in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance and Director in Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN). His innings, over saw the development of effective GST system as well as the introduction of e-invoicing system, streamlining of the procedures for taxpayers and ease of doing business and sharing of data and data analytics to prevent tax evasion. As Secretary Fisheries in the newly created dept. in the Ministry of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry & Dairying, GoI in February 2019 for revamping and managing the fisheries sector in India, he was instrumental in designing and launching of the ₹20,050 crore-Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and PLI for focused and sustainable development of the fisheries sector by boosting the production and exports.
• Government of Tamil Nadu: He has held several important positions in the GoTN in the field (such as Collector, Tiruchirapalli district; Member Secretary, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA); Commissioner (Industries and Commerce)) and policy levels like Deputy Secretary, Home Dept.; Deputy Secretary (Budget), Joint/Additional/Special Secretary in the finance dept.; OSD to the 13th Finance Commission; One Man commission for sorting pay commission anomalies; Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board; Principal Secretary/Additional Chief Secretary of departments like Industries, Energy, Revenue and Disaster Management Dept.; Commercial Taxes & Registration Highways & Ports Dept., etc. He assisted in the turnaround of the power situation in TN to make it power surplus again and achieving the leadership position in renewable energy and promoted TN as an excellent investment destination and to retain its top position in the industrial sphere. He has valuable experience in the infrastructure sector in developing road and ports infrastructure and overall financing and monitoring of developmental infrastructure across sectors. As Chief Secretary, he was overall incharge of the functioning of the administration and socio economic development of the State.
• Companies/PSUs/Board Experience:He has vast experience of PSUs and the Corporate Sector (including publicly listed) having numerous stints as Chairman/MD/Director in the last three decade across sectors like infrastructure, industry, energy, finance, taxation, shipping, etc
• Chairman and Managing Director- Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd. (TNPL), TN Road Dev. Co. (TNRDC), IT Expressway Ltd., TN Road Infrastructure Development Corp. (TNRIDC), TN Industrial Development Corp. Ltd. (TIDCO), TN Electricity Board (TNEB), TN Transmission Corp., TN Generation and Distribution Corp. (TANGEDCO), TIDEL Park, SIPCOT, TN Cements (TANCEM), TN Sugar Corp. Ltd., TN Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion, etc.
• Chairman (Private Sector)- TITAN Company Ltd., TN Petro Products Ltd., etc
• Director- NLC Ltd. (GoI Navratna Co.), GSTN, Chennai Metro Rail Ltd., NTPC TN Energy Ltd., TN Energy Development Agency (TEDA), TN Power Finance Corp. (TNPFC), TN Electronics (ELCOT), RAMCO Cements, IIT Madras Research Park, Adyar poonga, TN Industrial Investment Corp. (TIIC), TN Minerals (TAMIN), TN State Marketing Corp. (TASMAC), TN Trade Promotion Organisation (TNTPO), Poompuhar Shipping Corp., TN Fibrenet Corp., etc.
• Trustee in major (GoI) ports like Chennai Port Trust, VOC Port Trust, Tuticorin.
• Current Interests: After his superannuation in September 2021, Dr. Ranjan continues to be active in advisory and public policy advocacy space. He is the Co-Chairman of the SixthCommon Review Mission of the Ministry of Rural Department (GoI) for independently assessing the implementation of the various schemes of the govt. He is an honorary Sr. Adviser to National Coop. Dev. Corp. (NCDC), a statutory Corp. under the newly created Ministry of Cooperation (GoI) setup for the growth, development and financing of the cooperatives in the country. He is the founder Director of the IPL Centre for Rural Outreach (ICRO), involved in CSR activities housed in the National Productivity Council (NPC), DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry (GoI) which is tasked with propagating the productivity culture in all sectors of the Indian economy. He is involved in creating awareness on Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) parameters for industry transformation for Atmanirbhar Bharat by conducting National Workshops on ESG for PSUs/Private Sector etc. He is passionate about developing people, systems and building winning teams for improving governance in various domains and contributing to the society. He has written several articles, book chapters on different topics and also co-authored a book. He is an avid reader, golfer, runner and public speaker.

• Dr. Anup Wadhawan has experience gained over a 40 year career at National, Sub-national & Field level, including leadership role in framing / implementing economic / development policy, and in international / academic institutions, relating to:
• Apex level, National policy making / implementation, including in foreign trade, investment and WTO related work, as Commerce Secretary to Government of India, and in positions related to Banking, Insurance & Pensions sector and Capital Markets.
• Provincial policy making / implementation, including in urban development, forests & environment, disaster management, land revenue administration, rural development, cooperatives, local self govt, education, annual expenditure planning and hill development.
• Field / grass-roots public / development administration experience in implementation / monitoring of development programs across sectors, at district level, with the State Govts of Uttarakhand / UP.
• Work in a power sector regulatory commission.
• Work in World Bank / African Dev Bank on public utilities/ service delivery
• Teaching / scholastic work in economics, public / dev policy.

KEY CURRENT POSITIONS

• Ind. Director: Bajaj Allianz Life / Gen Insurance Companies; Cred Avenue Pvt Ltd; Cred Avenue Securities (non-ex Chair); Indian Venture Capital Association
• Advisor: Association of Small & Medium Knowledge Industries; GoodGovern; IRADe; Transnational Strategy Group, Washington DC; Girnar Finserv Pvt Ltd / InsuranceDekho

KEY PAST POSITIONS HELD

• Commerce Secretary to Govt of India
• Director General of Foreign Trade, Dept of Commerce, GoI
• Addl. / Jt. Secretary, Department of Financial Services, GoI
• Jt. Secretary, Capital Markets, Dept of Economic Affairs
• Pr. Secretary / Secretary to Govt of Uttarakhand
• Past Board Positions:
Government E-Marketplace;
National Export Insurance Account, ECGC;
Insurance Regulatory and Dev Authority;
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority;
Agriculture Insurance Company of India;
Natl. Financial Holdings Company Ltd / SUUTI;
Hindustan Diamond Company Pvt Limited;
Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council;
Chair, Sports Goods Export Promotion Council;
Member-Secretary, Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board
• Country Team Leader, World Bank, Water and Sanitation Program, South Asia
• Director, office of the Prime Minister of India
• Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission
• District Magistrate, Etawah, UP
• Grad student/instructor, Duke Univ; Penn State Univ, USA