IIM Kozhikode Conference on Macroeconomics, Banking & Finance

Dr. Mridul Saggar

Professor, IIM Kozhikode & former RBI MPC Member

Dr. Mridul Saggar is the Professor of Practice (in the area of Economics) at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode. Dr. Saggar has three decades of experience in various central banking functions. He was earlier the Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), overseeing the central bank’s monetary policy and economics research functions. He was also one of the six Members of the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in charge of taking collegiate decisions on policy interest rate and the monetary policy stance; as also of its Financial Markets Committee (FMC), that takes decisions on its financial market operations. Earlier, he had served as the Head of the International Department of RBI, representing India at various international bodies/G20 Working Groups/Task Forces. Currently, he is also on-boarded as an Expert by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to render expert advise to IMF Member countries in the area of monetary policy as part of IMF missions.

Mr. Ashishkumar Chauhan

MD & CEO, National Stock Exchange of India (NSE)

Mr. Ashishkumar Chauhan is an Indian business executive and administrator who is currently the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). A technocrat from IIT Bombay and IIM Calcutta, Mr. Ashish was a founding member of NSE. Prior to joining NSE back in 2022, he was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) for 10 years. He is also the Chancellor of University of Allahabad and serves as a member of Governing Council of one of the premier B-Schools in India - IIM Calcutta. Mr. Ashish is best known as the father of modern financial derivatives in India and is considered one of the foremost experts in financial market policies, Information technology, organized retail, telecommunications, cricket, and Indian social issues. Mr. Ashish has been awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by Global Custodian.

Mr. Dinesh Khara

Chairman, State Bank of India

Mr. Dinesh Khara is Chairman of the country’s largest Bank - State Bank of India. Having joined the bank as a Probationary Officer in 1984, he has rich experience in all facets of Banking. Before assuming office as Chairman, Mr. Khara has held several key positions in SBI such as MD (Global Banking & Subsidiaries), MD (Associates & Subsidiaries), MD & CEO (SBI Mutual Funds) and Chief General Manager - Bhopal Circle. As Managing Director, he led the International Banking Group, Large Corporate and Treasury operations in addition to the non-banking subsidiaries of the Bank viz., SBI Cards, SBIMF, SBI Life, SBI General etc. Mr. Khara is a postgraduate in commerce from Delhi School of Economics and an MBA from FMS, New Delhi. He is a Fellow of Indian Institute of Banking & Finance. Mr. Khara is passionate about reading and very keenly interested in using Analytics and Technology to make banking simpler and bank finance easily accessible to all Indians.

Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran

Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India

Dr. Nageswaran is the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India. He is also a writer, author, and a teacher. He was the Dean of the IFMR Graduate School of Business and a distinguished Visiting Professor of Economics at Krea University. He was one of the founders of Aavishkaar Venture Capital Fund and the Takshashila Institution. He served as a Currency Economist at the Union Bank of Switzerland; Head of Research and Investment Consulting in Credit Suisse Private Banking in Asia; and Head of Asia Research and Global Chief Investment Officer at Bank Julius Baer. He was an independent Director on the Boards of TVS Supply Chain Solutions, Sundaram Fasteners, TVS Sri Chakra Tyres, Delphi TVS and Aparajitha Corporate Services. He received a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Dr. Ashok Thomas

Professor,IIM Kozhikode

Ashok Thomas is currently an Assistant Professor of Economics at IIM Kozhikode. Prior to joining IIM Kozhikode, he worked as a post-doc researcher at the University of Pisa. Dr Ashok earned a PhD in Economics from the University of Pisa. He has published papers revolving around the theme of pension economics, household finance and health finance. He has conducted research for Mefop, Rome and has collaborated with the European Union Jena Monnet Project on Socially responsible investments.

Mr. Ananth Narayan

Whole Time Member, SEBI

Mr. Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan is a Whole Time Member of SEBI. He handles Market Intermediaries Regulation and Supervision Department (MIRSD), Alternative Investment Fund and Foreign Portfolio Investors Department (AFD), Integrated Surveillance Department (ISD), Department of Economic & Policy Analysis (DEPA) and Information Technology Department (ITD). Mr. Narayan has more than two and half decades of experience in banking and financial markets and has held various senior positions. Prior to this assignment, he also held the position of Associate Professor, S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai. Mr. Narayan holds a Post-graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow and was awarded the Director’s Gold Medal for standing 2nd in the batch. He did his Graduation in Bachelor of Technology (Electrical Engineering) from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Mumbai.

Mr. Ashu Khullar

CEO, Citibank (India)

Mr. Ashu Khullar is Chief Executive Officer of Citi India and is responsible for all of Citi's businesses in India. Prior to his current role, he was based in Hong Kong and was Head of the Capital Markets Origination (CMO) business for Asia Pacific across Equity, Bonds, Loans and Structured Financing. Earlier, he was based in London as Co-Head of Citi’s Corporate Banking business for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) that served 2,500 corporates, financial institutions and public sector clients. He has also headed Corporate Banking for Central Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEEMEA) where he managed a team of 250 bankers. In a prior role, he was Co-Head of EMEA Loans, with oversight of the Project and Infrastructure Finance business. Ashu graduated with a major in Commerce from Shriram College of Commerce, University of Delhi, and holds a postgraduate diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Mr. Hitendra Dave

CEO, HSBC (India)

Hitendra Dave has been the Chief Executive Officer for HSBC India, effective from June 2021. Prior to taking on this role, Hitendra Dave (known widely by his last name, Dave) was the Head of Global Banking & Markets where his span of responsibilities included Corporate Banking, Financial Institutions, Debt and Equity, Capital Markets, Global Markets and the custody business. Amongst the more visible figures in India’s banking industry, Dave is a senior banker and highly respected for his understanding and views on macro economy, corporate developments and financial markets. A member of various advisory committees including RBI’s and SEBI’s consultative Committees, Dave is a well recognized figure amongst India Inc. and policy makers. Dave joined HSBC India in 2001 and since, has held several senior positions across roles including being Head of Global Markets and later as the Head of Global Banking and Markets for HSBC in India. He has more than 30 years of work experience in the Indian Financial Markets. Dave is a post graduate in Business Administration and holds a degree in Economics from Delhi University.

Mr. Neeraj Gambhir

Group Executive, Treasury, Markets & Wholesale Banking, Axis Bank

Mr. Neeraj Gambhir is the Group Executive - Treasury, Markets & Wholesale Banking Products of Axis Bank since May 2020. He has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry with expertise in Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange, Capital Markets, Structured Finance, Derivatives, Risk Management, and Investment Banking areas. Previously, he was MD and Head of Fixed Income for Nomura Holding Inc India, where he set up and grew their Fixed Income franchise in the country. Prior to that, he was the MD of Lehman Brothers India and a Senior General Manager and Global Head of Structured Finance & Balance Sheet Management at ICICI Bank. He was also the Vice Chairman of the task force set up by Ministry of Finance - Government of India. Mr. Gambhir holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Science and is a Postgraduate in Business Management from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow where he was awarded PGP Chairman's Medal.

Dr. Ashima Goyal

Professor Emeritus, IGIDR & RBI MPC Member

Dr. Ashima Goyal is widely published in institutional and open economy macroeconomics, international finance, and governance, with more than a hundred articles in national and international journals. She has also authored and edited several books including Macroeconomics and Markets in Developing and Emerging Economies. She has provided consultancy to ADB, DEA, GDN, UNDP, RBI, UN ESCAP and WB. She is active in the Indian policy debate; and has served on several government committees including the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, the RBI technical advisory committee for monetary policy, boards of journals and educational and financial institutions. Currently she is a Member of India's Monetary Policy Committee, on Advisory and other Boards. She is selected as one of the Most Powerful Women in Business’ by Business Today Magazine 2021 and 2022 and as one of the Promising Women Leaders of India, June 2022 by ET and Femina (Times Group). Dr. Ashima Goyal received her PhD in Economics from University of Mumbai.

Prof. Chetan Ghate

Director, Institute of Economic Growth & former RBI MPC Member

Prof. Chetan Ghate is the Director of the Institute of Economic Growth in New Delhi. He is also a Professor of Economics in the Economics and Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) – Delhi, since 2003.  He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Claremont Graduate University, California, in 1999. He completed his M.A. in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics in 1995. His research focus is in the fields of macroeconomics, monetary economics, economic growth and development, and the Indian macroeconomy.  In 2014, he was awarded the Mahalanobis Memorial Gold Medal given to the best research economist in India under the age of 45. He was a Member of the Reserve Bank of India’s first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) until October 2020. Prof. Ghate chairs the academic advisory board of the Reserve Bank of India Academy and serves on the editorial board of the RBI Occasional Paper Series. He is a Member of the CII Economic Affairs Council and the Macro Finance Society.

Prof. Shubhasis Dey

Dean, IIM Kozhikode

Prof. Shubhasis Dey is currently the Dean of Faculty Administration and Development and a Professor of Economics at IIM Kozhikode. Prior to joining IIM Kozhikode he worked as an economist at the Bank of Canada. Dr. Dey earned a PhD in Economics from the Ohio State University. He also holds a MS degree in Quantitative Economics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata and a BS degree in Economics from Presidency College, Kolkata. His current research interests lie in the areas of development economics and political economy.

Mr. P. Vasudevan

Executive Director, RBI

Mr. P. Vasudevan is an Executive Director (ED) of Reserve Bank of India. Prior to being promoted as ED, Mr. P. Vasudevan was the Chief General Manager-in-charge of the Department of Payment and Settlement Systems. Mr. P. Vasudevan has, over a span of nearly three decades in the Reserve Bank, served in supervision of banks and non-banking financial companies, payment and settlement systems and other areas in the Reserve Bank, including a stint as Member of Faculty in Bankers’ Training College. Mr. P. Vasudevan holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce and is a Fellow of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India. He has a master’s degree in finance and Certifications in Information Systems Audit (CISA), Information Security Management (CISM) and Fintech (National University of Singapore). He is a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB) and an alumnus of the Wharton School.

Mr. Vikas Bansal

WTM & Head, Amazon Pay India

Mr. Vikas Bansal heads the Financial Services vertical within Amazon Pay India. In this role, he is driving the strategic direction for Amazon Pay India and scaling up key businesses including wallet and gift cards, co-branded credit cards, consumer lending, insurance, travel, and lifestyle. Mr. Bansal is a fintech industry veteran with more than 23 years of global experience building and scaling businesses. In his last role at Fiserv North America, he drove exceptional growth and expanded payment and lending solutions to banks, merchants, and alternative lenders. Prior to Fiserv, he held multiple roles of increasing leadership responsibility with Visa and American Express globally. He holds an MBA with Honors from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He is a mechanical engineer and an MBA in international business from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi.

Mr. Kunal Shah

Founder & CEO, CRED

Mr. Kunal Shah is an angel investor, founder of CRED and previously founded FreeCharge. CRED is a is a members-only credit card bill payment rewards platform that incentives and rewards members for clearing their bills on time. He has served as a part-time partner at Y Combinator and an advisor at Sequoia Capital. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Wilson College, Mumbai. He went on to pursue an MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai.

Dr. Aravind Sampath

Professor,IIM Kozhikode

Aravind Sampath is a faculty member of the Finance Accounting and Control area of IIM Kozhikode since June 2016. He majorly works in the confluence of financial markets, market microstructure, and empirical corporate finance. He teaches courses including financial markets and instruments, corporate finance, investments and portfolio management, investment strategies, and market microstructure. Aravind’s research has been published in journals including International Review of Finance, Journal of International Financial Markets Institutions and Money, Finance Research Letters among others. Aravind is a passionate investor, and has recently picked up a keen interest in sports finance.

Prof. Rudra Sensarma

Professor, IIM Kozhikode

Prof. Rudra Sensarma is a Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK). Before joining IIMK, he had worked for the Reserve Bank of India, IIM Lucknow, University of Birmingham, Brunel University and University of Hertfordshire. His research interests are in macroeconomics, financial services and public policy. He has published around 50 papers in international peer reviewed journals. He has conducted research projects for various agencies such as NABARD, NITI Aayog, Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Government of India) and a few corporate entities.

Dr. Sajjid Chinoy

Member, PM Economic Advisory Council and MD & Chief Economist, J.P. Morgan

Dr. Sajjid Chinoy is the Managing Director and Chief India Economist at J.P. Morgan. He is also currently serving a second term as part-time Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). Dr. Chinoy previously served on the Advisory Council to India’s 15th Finance Commission and was a Member of the “Expert Committee to Revise and Strengthen the Monetary Policy Framework” set up by the Reserve Bank of India in 2013. He has served on other RBI committees including Offshore Rupee Markets and Developing a Secondary Market for Corporate Loans. In 2016, he served as a consultant to the FRBM Review Committee which proposed a new fiscal anchor for India. Dr. Chinoy has previously worked at the IMF and McKinsey & Company. He received his Ph.D. at Stanford University. He won the EXIM Bank award for the best dissertation by an Indian national in 2001.

Ms. Sonal Varma

Chief Economist, Nomura

Ms. Sonal Varma is Nomura’s Chief Economist, India, and Asia ex-Japan, based in Singapore. Her responsibilities include analysing key economic trends in the region and publishing in-depth reports on the economy as part of Nomura’s Asia ex-Japan Global Markets Research team. She joined Nomura in October 2008 from Lehman Brothers, where she served as India Economist. She previously worked as an Economist at ICICI Bank and rating agency CRISIL. Ms. Sonal was rated #1 on Research in India from 2012 to 2019 by The Asset Magazine, ranked the #1 forecaster for Indian economic data by Bloomberg in 2012 and 2013, and was among the Top 3 economists in India as ranked by the All-India Institutional Investor survey in 2013 – 2018. She was a Member of the Indian government’s working group to construct the index of industrial production. Sonal holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Delhi University, India, and a master’s in economics from the Delhi School of Economics, India.

Dr. Samiran Chakraborty

Chief Economist, Citibank (India)

Before joining Citigroup, Dr. Samiran Chakraborty was the Head of South Asia Macro Research at Standard Chartered for 6 years. His expertise is in analysing macro fundamental of the Indian economy and an in-depth knowledge of Indian financial markets. He regularly makes media appearances in business channels like CNBC, Bloomberg, BBC and contributes to leading dailies on matters relating to economic policy issues. Samiran sits in CII and FICCI’s Economic Affairs Sub-Committee and CNBC’s Citizen’s Monetary Policy Committee. Prior to joining Standard Chartered Bank, Samiran was Chief Economist for ICICI Bank for 5 years, looking after a team of economists covering different aspects of the global economy with special reference to India. Before moving into the corporate sector, Dr. Samiran was a faculty of the Delhi School of Economics for 5 years. Dr. Samiran received his PhD in Economics from Delhi School of Economics.

Dr. Tirthankar Patnaik

Chief Economist, NSE (Moderator)

Dr. Tirthankar Patnaik is Chief Economist at the National Stock Exchange of India. He has over two decades of experience in the Indian capital markets, academic research, credit research in macro and sector strategy, quantitative finance and consumer banking. He started his career as a researcher at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) and worked on a number of academic and corporate projects in econometrics and quantitative finance, followed by a stint in consumer banking analytics as an analyst with the Global Consumer Group of Citibank in India and Europe. His next focus area was equity strategy for institutional clients, initially with Citigroup Global Markets as India equity strategist, and then with Religare Capital Markets Ltd, as the India Strategist and Chief Economist. In his last assignment prior to joining NSE, he was the Chief Strategist and Head of Research for India, at Japan-based Mizuho Bank.

Mr. Viquar Shaikh

Head, Index Research Asia, JP Morgan

Mr. Viquar Shaikh is a Head of Index Research Asia at JP Morgan. He has more than 2 decades of experience working in JP Morgan. Currently, he leads the Asia Index Research team within a global franchise that owns benchmark indices. Prior to that, he was the Vice President at JP Morgan in London, United Kingdom where he developed systematic strategies and implemented broadly across the global equity markets. Mr. Viquar Shiakh holds a master’s degree in chemistry from Mithibai College, Mumbai University.

Mr. Jayesh Mehta

Former MD & Country Treasurer, Bank of America

Jayesh Mehta has over 35 years of experience in Indian Fixed income Markets and has been actively involved in the growth of Fixed Income market in India. Jayesh Mehta retired as the Managing Director & Country Treasurer for Bank of America N.A. (India) and heads the Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities (FICC) business in India in December 2023. He had been with the firm since 1988. He was responsible for all rates, currencies credit and commodities businesses, India branch. Jayesh also had client coverage responsibilities for both domestic and international accounts based in India, Indian accounts based overseas, the rapidly expanding local fund client base and regulators. Jayesh has also been closely involved in several Market Development plans for Debt Market in India. He was the Chairman of Primary Dealers’ Association of India for few years and also Vice Chairman of Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India (FIMMDA). He was a member of Reserve Bank of India’s Technical Advisory Committee for Money, Forex & Government Securities. Jayesh was also a member of a sub group of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) and currently a member of various Regulatory Committees.

Mr. K.V. Kamath

Chairman, Jio Financial Services

Mr. Kundapur Vaman Kamath is the current Independent Director and Non-Executive Chairman of Jio Financial Services and the former chief of the New Development Bank of BRICS countries. Previously he has also served as the Chairman of Infosys Limited, the second-largest Indian IT services company, and as the Non-Executive Chairman of ICICI Bank. Mr. Kamath also served as ICICI Bank's founder and Managing Director and CEO from 1 May 1996 until his retirement from executive responsibilities on 30 April 2009. Mr. Kamath took charge as the Chairman of Infosys from N. R. Narayana Murthy on 21 August 2011 till June 2015. Before that he was the Non-Executive Chairman of the company from 2 May 2011. Mr. Kamath also serves as an independent director on the boards of the Houston-based oil services company Schlumberger since 2010, and the Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer Lupin. He is also a Member of the Board of Governors of the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University. After graduating from NIT Surathkal in 1969, Mr. Kamath completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM, Ahmedabad.

Dr. Latha Venkatesh

Executive Editor, CNBC TV18

Dr. Latha Venkatesh is a Executive Editor, CNBC TV18. She began her career in CNBC-TV18 as chief of the Mumbai News Bureau. Over the years, she has come to be recognized as one of the keenest watchers of the Reserve Bank of India and a respected commentator on banking sector issues, money markets and macroeconomic trends. She has been a business journalist for years and has specialized in covering all markets - stocks, currency debt and commodities. She has also had stints in all major streams of media having worked in Economic Times and Dow Jones newswires for five years each. She is graduated in Economics and Politics and has a doctoral degree in Political Science.