Rajendra S. Pawar is Chairman and Co-founder of the NIIT Group, that encompasses two businesses— NIIT Limited, the leading Global Talent Development Corporation and NIIT Technologies Limited, the software and services arm. Mr. Pawar is the current Chairman of India’s IT industry body- National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM).

Set up in 1981, NIIT pioneered the computer education market in India, creating a completely new industry segment and taking it to consolidation and maturity. Mr. Pawar has played a leadership role in nurturing NIIT and building it into a leading Global Talent Development Corporation.

Mr. Pawar led NIIT’s foray into the software and services market, creating NIIT Technologies, a global IT Solutions organization. Assessed at SEI-CMMi Level 5, NIIT Technologies serves clients across North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Australia. He has personally conceptualized and driven several initiatives that have enabled NIIT Technologies to rank among the frontrunners of the IT-BPO industry—an organization with significant stakes in IT services, Managed Services and BPO.

Mr. Pawar is a member on the Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development; has served on the Prime Minister’s National Task Force commissioned to develop India into an IT Superpower; is an advisor to the Hunan Province of China and was a member of PIAC (Presidential International Advisory Council) of the Government of South Africa for IT. He is currently a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum.

Actively involved in India’s key Chambers of Commerce, Mr. Pawar has led several ICT industry initiatives, giving voice to the sector’s aspirations and goals. As President of MAIT (Manufacturers Association for Information Technology) in 1990-92, Pawar integrated MAIT activities into those of other leading industry associations in India. MAIT played a significant role in shaping IT policies of Government of India, during his presidency.

Acknowledging his contribution to the IT industry in India, Mr. Pawar has been awarded the country’s prestigious civilian honour, Padma Bhushan by the President of India.

Global Business Intelligence firm, Ernst & Young conferred on Mr. Pawar, its prestigious ‘Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award’, in 1999. He has also been named the ‘IT Man of the Year’ by IT industry journal, Dataquest. Pawar has been awarded ‘The Global India Splendor Award’ on the occasion of 60th year of India’s independence, for his work on developing human resource potential. He is a Fellow of the Computer Society of India and the Institution of Electronics & Telecom Engineers.

Known for promoting industry-academia alliances, Mr. Pawar has been working closely with the country’s well-known educational institutions. He is on the Board of Governors of India’s premier engineering institution, IIT Delhi; leading management institution, IIM Bangalore; country’s first global business school, the Indian School of Business; and the Scindia School. Pawar also serves on the Board of Management of world’s largest distance learning university, Indira Gandhi National Open University.

Having revolutionized the IT Training industry, Mr. Pawar is involved in establishing an innovative model in Higher Education. Currently a member of the Planning Commission’s Consultative Group on Higher Education, he is deeply engaged in shaping the not-for-profit NIIT University. This University has been set up with a vision of being the leading centre of innovation and learning in emerging areas of the Knowledge Society.

Mr. Pawar studied at the Scindia School, Gwalior and graduated from the country’s prestigious engineering institution, the IIT, Delhi in 1972 where he pursued the B. Tech programme in electrical engineering and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT in 1995. He has also been awarded an Honorary Doctoral Degree by the Rajiv Gandhi Technical University in 2005.

Mr. Pawar is an avid reader, writer and music buff.

Vijay K. Thadani is the Chief Executive Officer of NIIT Ltd, a leading Global Talent Development Corporation. As the Co-founder of NIIT Group, he has built an organization that is recognised for its visionary role in bringing the benefits of Information Technology, both as a professional skill and as a learning tool, to the masses.

Mr. Thadani led the Group’s globalization efforts since 1991, taking the NIIT flag to over 40 countries. He serves on the Board of NIIT Technologies Limited, a leading SEI-CMMi Level 5 assessed IT Solutions organisation, servicing customers in the USA, Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific, and India.

Mr. Thadani has been actively engaged with many Industry Associations. The current Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Northern Region, Mr. Thadani has also served as President of the Indian IT industry association, MAIT; chaired the Indian Government’s Committee on National Information Infrastructure and has been a member of the Strategy Council of Global Alliance for ICT and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA-GAID). He served as the Chairman of the IT Committee of CII in USA, as the Chairman of CII National Committee on Education, India.

Mr. Thadani is the Co-founder of the not-for-profit, NIIT University established in 2009 with a vision of being the leading centre of innovation and learning in emerging areas of the Knowledge Society. He is also as a member of the India Advisory Board of the Maastricht University, Netherlands and serves as the Chairman of the National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET), which works under the aegis of the Quality Council of India. He was recently appointed as the Chairman of Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Allahabad.

Mr. Thadani also serves on the India Advisory Board for Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Governing Council of All India Management Association (AIMA).

A ‘Distinguished Alumnus’ of the premier Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Mr. Thadani was honored with the position of ‘Economic Consultant’ to Chongqing, world’s largest city in the People’s Republic of China.

P. Rajendran Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of NIIT Ltd, is part of the core team that has developed the organisation and brought it to its present position of international standing, since its inception in 1981. He is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Today, Mr. Rajendran leads the People, Infrastructure & Technology initiatives and the School Solutions Business at NIIT. He facilitates the company’s thrust with Governments in many countries for skills development in a public private partnership mode. A people-person and a believer in leveraging Information Technology for Human Resources competitiveness, he has helped NIIT emerge as one of the most exciting places to work. Under his leadership, the Company has received many awards in recognition of its innovative HR practices, including Aon Hewitt’s Best Employers in India- 2011, ‘Best Education Company to Work with’ at Indian Education Awards 2011 and ‘India’s Best Companies to Work for 2011’.

Mr. Rajendran is actively associated with industry associations like CII, NASSCOM and FICCI. He is member of the CII National Council, Chairperson of the Task force on ICT & Skills development in CII Africa Council, member of the CII National Committee on Skills & Human Resources and Chairman of the CII Higher Education Committee.

Mr. Rajendran takes keen interest in the area of innovative deployment of ICT for human development and creation of new jobs.

Subroto Bhattacharya is a Chartered Accountant and has over 34 years of experience and specializes in finance and management consultancy. He has been part of the core team in several reputed organisations. He was invited to the Company’s Board as an Independent Director in 1998.

Mr. Bhattacharya advises the Company on financial and management issues and is Chairman of the Audit Committee and the Compensation/Remuneration Committee.

Surendra Singh has served in the Central and State Governments as an IAS Officer. Starting his public service in 1959, Mr. Singh has held positions like Special Secretary to the Prime Minister of India, Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India, Secretary to the Council of Ministers and Secretary, Ministry of Industry. He was an Executive Director on the Board of the World Bank, representing India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. He served as Director on the Boards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). Mr. Singh was invited to the Company’s Board as an Independent Director in 2001.

Acknowledging his contribution in civil services, Mr. Singh has been awarded the country’s prestigious civilian honour, Padma Bhushan by the President of India in 2011.

Mr. Singh advises NIIT on internal controls, audit systems, compensation structure and investor relations. He chairs the Shareholders’/ Investors’ Grievances Committee.

Sanjay Khosla is currently President, Developing Markets, Kraft Foods Inc. and responsible for the company’s almost US $14 billion business in over 60 countries, covering Asia Pacific, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. This includes management of the Cadbury business which was acquired by Kraft in 2010. Before joining Kraft Foods in January 2007, he was the Managing Director of Fonterra Brands, New Zealand’s largest multinational company and one of the world’s biggest dairy companies. Prior to this, Mr. Khosla was Senior Vice President, Global Beverages, Unilever and Chairman of that company’s Global Board for the beverages category. During his 27 years career with Unilever, Mr. Khosla held senior positions in India, Europe and the United Kingdom.

Mr. Khosla is an alumnus of the premier IIT, Delhi, and has completed an Advanced Management Programme from Harvard University. Mr. Khosla was invited to the Company’s Board as an Independent Director in 2002.

Mr. Khosla advises the Company on brand building, marketing strategy, remuneration policies and other matters. He is a member of Compensation/ Remuneration Committee.

Ms Madhabi Puri Buch has been associated with the ICICI Group for over 15 years. She was the Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Securities Limited (ISEC) from February 2009 to April 2011. She spearheaded ISEC’s initiatives in Equity Capital Markets, Advisory Services, Institutional Equities and Retail Equities including ICICIdirect.com. Within ICICI Bank, she had looked after various businesses including home loans, bonds and treasury solutions. She is the founder of a trust “Toofless Foundation” that undertakes a variety of initiative for funding grassroot NGOs.

Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch is a graduate in Mathematics from St. Stephens College, Delhi University and PGDM (MBA) from IIM, Ahmedabad.

Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch advises the Company on financial and investment matters. She guides the corporate teams on finance related matters and helps in formulating beneficial investment strategies for the Company.