The pillars of IHCL

Puneet Chhatwal

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Chhatwal brings over three decades of leadership experience at highlyacclaimed hotel groups in Europe and North America. He joined IHCL in 2017 and spearheads the Company operations as its MD and CEO. He has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Carlson Fellowship, and was rated as one of Europe’s 20 extraordinary minds in Sales, Marketing and Technology – HSMAI European Awards 2014. He was also the first alumni to be included in the ESSECIMHI Hall of Honour 2014.

Mehernosh S. Kapadia

Executive Director – Corporate Affairs

Mr. Kapadia has over 31 years of experience in Corporate Affairs and specialises in handling issues related to the Central and State Governments and Municipal Authorities. He is the Chairman of Taj Air Ltd. and holds Directorships in TajSATS Air Catering Limited, Tata Realty & Infrastructure Limited and Ewart Investments Limited.

Suma Venkatesh

Executive Vice President – Real Estate & Development

Ms. Venkatesh heads the Company’s Development, Technical Services and Projects functions. She oversees IHCL’s initiatives for growth through greenfield developments, acquisitions, licenses and management contracts. Over the last 15 years with IHCL, she has been involved in doubling the Group’s inventory to 141 hotels with 17,300+ keys. Ms. Venkatesh is an Electrical Engineer by training and holds a master’s degree in Management Studies from the Mumbai University in India. She has over 25 years of crossfunctional experience across industries. Before joining IHCL, she worked in different functions across multiple industry sectors in India.

Rohit Khosla

Executive Vice President – Operations (North and West India)

A post-graduate in hotel management from the Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai, Mr. Khosla joined IHCL in 1999 as Executive Assistant Manager, Taj Palace, New Delhi and has held several positions within the Group. Currently, he oversees hotel operations in the northern, eastern and western states of India, along with Taj Tashi, Bhutan and operations of Taj Safaris Wilderness Lodges. He has won numerous awards, including the Young Hotel General Manager in 2006 by Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FH&RA) and the General Manager of the Year in 2006 at Stars of the Industry Awards by ITM Institute of Hotel Management & DNA. He is currently an Executive Committee member of the Hotel Association of India and SKAL. He is also on the CII National Tourism Committee.

Rajendra Misra

Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Mr. Misra has over 26 years of business legal experience and is an expert in Litigation Management, Intellectual Property Management, Contracts Management and Competition and Corporate Law. His experience spans across many industries, including Hospitality, Personal Care, Home Care, Tobacco, Food, Lifestyle Retailing, Aluminium and Tyre businesses. Mr. Misra is also a Director on the Board of TajGVK Hotels & Resorts Ltd., which is a joint venture between IHCL and the GVK group. He holds a Bachelor of Legislative Law degree (L.L.B.) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Patents Law (PGDPL). He has also undertaken the Hawkesmere Course on International Intellectual Property Law from London. He was the Chairman of the legal committee of Indian Beauty & Hygiene Association (IBHA) and has led several legal initiatives on behalf of the industry.

Dr. P. V. Ramana Murthy

Executive Vice President and Global Head – Human Resources

Dr. Murthy brings over 28 years of rich experience in the field of human resource management from both Indian and multinational organisations. He holds a Ph.D. in Strategic Human Resource Management and an Executive Master’s degree in Organisational Psychology from INSEAD, Singapore. He has also attended an advanced Human Resource Executive programme from Michigan Ross School of Business in 2009. Dr. Murthy believes in scientific human resource practices and has been specialising in Talent Management, Leadership and Organisational Culture.

Giridhar Sanjeevi

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Sanjeevi has built a broad-based career over 30 years across multiple businesses – consumer businesses, financial services, retail and pharma – in Asia and Europe. A Chartered Accountant and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, he has won several awards, including the Most Influential CFOs of India award from CIMA in 2015 and 2016 and CFO of the Year for Excellence in Finance in Managing a Turnaround from IMA, 2013.

Chinmai Sharma

Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer

As Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer for Taj Hotels Palaces Resorts Safaris, Mr. Sharma’s responsibilities include Global Sales, Marketing, Loyalty, Customer Analytics, Digital Platforms, Distribution and Revenue Management. He is a seasoned industry professional with more than two decades of progressive hospitality experience in the fields of Revenue Management, Strategic Marketing and Electronic Distribution. In 2015, Mr. Sharma was named as one of the 'Top 20 Extraordinary Minds in Sales, Marketing and Technology' by HSMAI Europe.

Prabhat Verma

Executive Vice President – Operations (South, International & Ancillary Business)

Mr. Verma joined IHCL in 1990 as a Management Trainee and has since grown to become the Executive Vice President – Operations (South India, International and Ancillary Businesses). He has worked at various Taj properties and has been the General Manager of hotels including Taj Malabar, Cochin; Taj Coromandel, Chennai and the Taj Hotels, London. Mr. Verma has also held the portfolio of Chief Operating Officer of The Gateway Hotels of IHCL and Senior Vice President Operations for the South Region prior to his present role. He is the recipient of ‘Young General Manager’ of the Year 5-Star Deluxe category by FHRAI in 2005 and the ‘International Cooperation Award between the UK and India’ in 2012 by Asian Voice for his skills and expertise.

Beejal Desai

Senior. Vice President – Legal and Company Secretary

Mr. Desai is Senior Vice President – Legal & Company Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer of IHCL. He holds an L.L.B degree from Mumbai University and is a Fellow Member of the Institute of the Company Secretaries of India. He has previously worked across various leadership positions with different organisations and has over 32 years of cross-functional experience in the areas of Legal, Secretarial, Compliance and Investor Relations. He also closely liaises with SEBI, RBI and various regulatory authorities. He has pioneered digitalisation of various legal and compliance projects within the organisation and won several awards.