OUR TEAM

Nilesh has over 20 years of experience across private equity, debt investments, banking and portfolio management. His most recent assignment was with International Finance Corporation (IFC) where he headed the financial sector investments portfolio for South Asia. With IFC, he has worked on investments across early stage and mature banks, NBFCs and other financial institutions. He was earlier with HSBC in banking roles in operations as well as corporate and retail banking.

Nilesh has an MBA from IIM, Kolkata and engineering degree from Lucknow University.

Vikash has over 7 years of experience in Finance & Accounts. Prior to joining NIIF, he has worked for Actis, a UK based private equity fund, for about 6 years.

Vikash is a Commerce Graduate and a CA Inter.

Prior to joining NIIF, Rohit worked for over two years with Deutsche Bank as an M&A analyst. He has worked extensively on origination and execution mandates for clients in infrastructure, technology, media and telecom sectors.

Rohit holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Indore and a Bachelors in Chemistry from Sathya Sai University, Bangalore.

Apoorv joined NIIF in September 2019 and has close to six years of experience across valuation, corporate finance, tax and regulatory advisory. Prior to joining NIIF, Apoorv worked with KPMG India in its Deal Advisory practice, during which he was involved in executing valuation engagements for both private and public companies across sectors such as infrastructure, BFSI, industrials and start-ups.

Apoorv is a CFA Charterholder, holds an MBA from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and is a former professional cricketer, having represented the Mumbai Cricket Team at the junior levels.

Karthik has more than 8 years of experience in infrastructure including underwriting large ticket debt financing and thermal power project implementation. Prior to joining NIIF, Karthik was part of the Project Finance division at L&T Financial Services providing debt solutions to clients across renewable energy, roads, transmission and ports. Karthik has also worked in the Corporate Finance team of Yes Bank focusing on roads sector. Earlier, he has also worked in thermal power project construction as part of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.

Karthik holds an MBA in Finance from NITIE Mumbai and B.Tech in Civil Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Bhopal.

Kishore has around 15 years of diverse professional experience across management consulting, operational execution and policy making. Prior to joining NIIF, he worked as an Officer on Special Duty in the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. In that role, he worked on a handful of policy interventions across economic sectors including infrastructure. He has also co-edited 2 books recently and has written extensively on topical issues in leading national newspapers, periodicals and books.

Kishore has an MBA from IIM Lucknow and a B. Tech from IIT Bombay

Amal has over 11 years of experience across various financial services institutions. Prior to joining NIIF, Amal worked as General Manager – Finance with India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation.

Amal has previously worked with Barclays Bank, Price Waterhouse Coopers & Religare Capital Markets in varied roles of Financial controllership, strategic planning, consulting and audit.

Amal is a commerce graduate and is a member of Institute of Chartered Accountant of India.

Manali joined NIIF in September 2019 and has over 5 years of corporate law experience in private equity and mergers & acquisitions. Prior to joining NIIF, Manali was with Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Manali has completed her B.Com LLB (Hons.) from Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar.

Manali is also a qualified Company Secretary and holds a certificate of merit for an All India Rank-15 in the Company Secretary Course.

Surabhi joined NIIF in September 2019 after graduating with an MSc. in Economics from Singapore Management University. Prior to her Master’s, she was in the finance sector for 3 years having worked with Moody’s Analytics and Goldman Sachs having covered financial and economic research, regulatory reporting and operations. Her undergraduate degree is in Business Management from Christ University, Bengaluru.

Guru brings in over 22 years of rich experience in leading information technology verticals across Indian Telecom, Financial services and IT industries and an international experience in Offshore IT Program Management. Before joining NIIF, he was heading IT for an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) company and was earlier leading IT Governance & Compliance at Reliance Technology Services. His prior experience includes senior information technology roles in Merrill Lynch, Tata Communications and Hutchison Max (now Vodafone).

Guru is an Engineering graduate with an Advanced Diploma in Software Export Technologies.

Pratik has 12+ years of work experience across diverse industries. He has been associated with the Private Equity industry for the last 9 years. Prior to joining NIIF, Pratik was working as Vice President – Finance for ICICI Venture Funds Management, an India focused private equity fund house having assets of around 4 billion across Private Equity, Stressed Assets, Real Estate and Infrastructure. Pratik had previously worked with United Spirits Limited and Infosys.

Pratik is a Commerce Graduate and a Chartered Accountant.

Saurabh has 17+ years of work experience across diverse industries. He has been associated with the Private Equity industry for the last 10 years. Prior to joining NIIF, Saurabh was a Group CFO for Actis, a UK based PE fund with an AUM of ~ USD 8 billion.

Saurabh has previously worked with Ernst & Young, LG Electronics, and MAX India group in varied roles of strategic planning, pricing, finance controllership, business development, consulting, and audit.
Saurabh is a commerce graduate, and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Subhasree has over 10 years of Corporate Law experience in Private Equity, Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Finance. Prior to joining NIIF, Subhasree was with Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.

Subhasree has done her LLM from Harvard Law School, and her BA, LLB from the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, Hyderabad.

Ritika has over 12 years of experience across leading financial services firms with extensive exposure in organizational capability building, transformation management and leadership development. Prior to joining NIIF, Ritika spent over 7 years as a senior member of the Human Resources team at Avendus Capital. She has also spent time with ICICI Prudential AMC & ICICI Securities.

Ritika holds an MBA from International School of Business and Media, Pune (HR), and a Bachelors in Computer Application from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra.

Saumya has over 5 years of work experience in Investment Banking. Prior to joining NIIF, Saumya was Deputy Manager in IDBI Capital Markets and Securities Limited, where she handled end-to-end corporate advisory assignments including business consultancy, financial appraisal, syndication, and debt restructuring in the infrastructure sector.

Saumya is a commerce graduate, and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Sumit has an overall work experience of 7 years in global investment banking. Prior to joining NIIF, he was working with HSBC Investment Banking Division in London providing M&A advisory, capital market, and project financing solutions to clients. Prior to joining the HSBC London team, he was working at the HSBC India Investment Banking team for 2+ years.

Sumit holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, and a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal. He has represented India at the APAC finals of the Global Investment Research Challenge 2011, organized by CFA Institute, Virginia.

Sheetal has over 6.5 years of experience in Investment Banking in the infrastructure space. Prior to joining NIIF, she was an investment banker with HDFC Bank, involved in credit appraisal, deal structuring, and term sheet negotiations. She successfully closed project financing/NCD deals of over INR 45 billion, primarily in the transportation sector. She has also worked with one of the largest investment banks of India, SBI Capital Markets Ltd., wherein she was involved in several projects.

Sheetal holds a MBA (Finance) from Mumbai University (N.L. Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research), and a B Com from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics.

Ankit has over 9 years of experience across fund of fund investing, investment banking and business management. Prior to joining NIIF, Ankit was a part of the management team at Moody’s Analytics Knowledge Services. Previously, Ankit spent over 6 years in London where he worked in Nomura’s Industrial M&A team followed by CDC Funds team. At CDC, he was a part of Asia funds team, responsible for making new commitments in South Asia as well as overseeing existing portfolio of 60+ funds with commitments of over USD 2.4 billion across Asia.

Ankit holds a MSc. in Management from Imperial College Business School, London and a B.Eng. Mechanical from Manipal University, Manipal.

Puneet has a career spanning over 11 years across investing, business planning, and operations in the infrastructure, and energy space. Prior to joining NIIF, Puneet worked with ReNew Power, one of the largest renewable energy IPPs in India spearheading their effort on foreign currency financing. His past experience includes working at Husk Power Systems, a start-up, in the distributed power generation space, and the International Finance Corporation (World Bank). He started his career with Axis Risk Consulting, the risk assurance division of the Ambit Group.

Puneet has a degree in business management from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (Delhi University), and an MBA from Indian School of Business.

Karthikeyan has over 13 years of professional experience involving around USD 500 million in Indian infrastructure across different sectors. Prior to joining NIIF, he was the Chief Investment Officer for Uniquest Infra – a subsidiary of UEM Group/ Khazanah (Malaysia), in JV with IDFC, India. Karthik has also previously worked with KPMG as Associate Director in Infrastructure Advisory (Transaction & Restructuring, Corporate Finance), and with L&T IDPL as Assistant General Manager.

Karthik has a Management degree in Finance and Strategy from XLRI, Jamshedpur. He won the Gold Medal during his Bachelors of Engineering from the Govt. College of Technology, Coimbatore.

Prior to joining NIIF in April 2019, Sidharth worked for 4.5 years with Barclays. Most recently, he was part of the Leveraged Finance team focusing on the Natural Resources and related Infrastructure space in North America and also worked with Barclays in India as part of the Debt Financing team. Before joining Barclays, Sidharth worked with a Chicago based proprietary trading firm.

Sidharth completed his MBA with Distinction from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and also received his BSE in Computer Science from the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering.

Prior to joining NIIF, Naveen interned at Temasek with the India investments team. Before his internship, Naveen worked at PwC as Senior Associate in the accounting advisory team where he worked with clients from diverse industries including power, insurance and FMCG.

Naveen holds an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Tejas has a total experience of over nine years involving underwriting closures of INR 50 Bn+. Prior to joining NIIF, he was a member of the Investment Banking Group at HDFC Bank, where he led pan-India coverage for Ports, Logistics, Warehousing and Shipping sectors. His product mandate included Project Finance, Structured Debt and Corporate Finance Advisory.

His earlier assignments included Roads, Airports, LNG & LPG, Agri-warehousing and allied Transportation sectors. Prior to HDFC Bank, Tejas worked for YES Bank with roles across Infrastructure Finance and Strategy.

Tejas holds an MBA from the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai and is a graduate in Computer Engineering from Mumbai University. He has also completed all three levels of the CFA programme.

Pratik has overall work experience of over six years, of which over three years have been in Investment Banking, Project Finance and Management Consulting. Prior to joining NIIF, Pratik had worked with YES Securities, SBI Capital Markets and PwC across the infrastructure space including power, transportation and energy efficiency sectors.

Pratik holds an MBA from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon and a B Tech in Civil Engineering from Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat.

Ashok has over 20 years of experience across project equity, private equity, real estate equity, project finance, consulting and research exploring environment & social risk, impacts and opportunities in diverse businesses. Prior to joining NIIF, Ashok worked with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) / IDFC Alternatives as Director & Head – ESG for a USD 3.8 billion alternatives portfolio with hands-on experience in implementing the IFC Performance Standards / ESG requirements.

Ashok is a graduate in life sciences from Delhi University, post graduate in environmental sciences from Andhra University and a M.Phil in Applied Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He has also been awarded the prestigious Chevening Scholarship from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, from University of Wales, Bangor, United Kingdom.

Ekta has over 15 years of experience in multi-disciplinary practice and employments across corporate affairs, secretarial practices, compliance, governance, legal, contracts and litigation. Prior to joining NIIF, Ekta worked as Company Secretary, General Counsel and Compliance Head-India for Ansaldo STS Transportation Systems India Private Limited, a Hitachi group company.

Ekta is a qualified Company Secretary, Chartered Secretary (UK), a graduate in Law and a post graduate diploma holder (gold medallist) in Financial Management.

Manpreet joined NIIF in June 2018 with more than 10 years of experience in finance and accounting. Prior to NIIF, he worked with Grant Thornton in Delhi for over seven years.
Manpreet is an MBA from IMT Ghaziabad.

Prasad Gadkari has 21 years of experience across private equity, principal investments, joint ventures, project finance, and corporate & policy advisory. His most recent assignment was as Managing Director at TVS Capital.
Prior to TVS, Prasad was a Partner with IDFC Private Equity with a focus on core infrastructure and social sectors. During his stint with General Electric (GE), he handled the company’s infrastructure investing activities in South Asia, Middle East and N. Africa. Prasad was also with IDFC Ltd., where he led project-financing deals.

Prasad has an MBA from NMIMS, Mumbai, and is a CFA Charter holder.

Sanket is part of the finance team and looks after financial accounting at NIIF. Prior to joining NIIF Limited, he has earlier worked with Grant Thornton and KPMG in the audit and assurance department and financial reporting and advisory services.

Sanket is a qualified Chartered Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and is IFRS certificate holder from Association of Certified Chartered Accountants, UK. He holds Bachelor’s degree in finance from CSJM University.

Sona joined NIIF in June 2018. She brings with her six years of experience spanning Equity fundraise, M&A, Tax and Regulatory Advisory, and Audit. Prior to joining NIIF, Sona has worked with Mytrah Energy, ReNew Power and KPMG.
Sona is a Chartered Accountant and an MBA in Finance and Strategy from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

Pawan joined NIIF in July 2018. He has over 14 years of experience of which 10 years are in deal development, analysis, structuring and equity investments in Indian infrastructure.
Prior to joining NIIF, Pawan worked with Tata Realty And Infrastructure Limited (TRIL) as part of its Corporate Finance team and was involved in all aspects of project bidding, mergers & acquisition, business strategy and investment management. He has experience in sectors like roads & highways, urban transportation, airports and ropeways. Prior to TRIL, he had worked with Adventity Global Services and Gati.
Pawan is an MBA from ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad and a Chartered Financial Analyst from ICFAI.

Ayushi has 6 years of experience in business development, policymaking, investment, and operations in renewable energy space. Before joining NIIF, Ayushi was Chief of Staff for SunEdison Asia-Pacific & Africa, headquartered in Chennai, India. She led the coordination of various aspects of the business across projects and countries. She ran key operational reviews, along with managing the recruitment for leadership roles, and the Investment Committee process. Ayushi also worked as a management consultant with Takshashila Consulting.

Ayushi has a MS in Statistics from the London School of Economics, and a BSc (Honors) in Statistics from Lady Shriram College, Delhi University.

Abhijit has over 18 years of experience in investor relations, fund raising, product development, communication and investment analysis across the financial services space. Prior to joining NIIF, he was the Director and Head of Investor Relations and Communication at India Ratings, the Indian subsidiary of Fitch Ratings. Previously, he was leading fund raising and investor relations at True North (earlier known as India Value Fund).

Abhijit has also worked with Fidelity Mutual Fund, AIG Investments, Tata Mutual Fund and Reliance Industries earlier in research, products and marketing & communication roles.

Abhijit has a Bachelor of Engineering from University of Calcutta and a Masters in Management from University of Mumbai.

Saloni has over 19 years of experience, which includes private equity, corporate finance, and strategy. Prior to joining NIIF, she was a Partner with SKP Business Consulting where she led a team of 15 in their M&A and Consulting practice.

Saloni has previously worked with Praxair in USA, KPMG Corporate Finance in India, and HDFC Private equity. She has executed several cross-border and domestic transactions involving mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity funding, and entry-strategy assignments across sectors. She has successfully negotiated and closed several transactions.

Saloni has an MBA from the Pennsylvania State University, USA

Ria has over two years of experience working with the Deal Advisory team at KPMG India. While at KPMG, her role mainly involved transaction advisory and financial diligence (buy-side and vendor support), for clients in the infrastructure space encompassing highways and renewable power. She was also part of the team that led the due diligence for the acquisition of Welspun Renewable Energy by Tata Power in 2016.

Ria was the Mumbai University Gold Medalist in the Bachelors of Financial Markets stream at Jai Hind College, Mumbai. She has also completed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program.

Prior to joining NIIF, Devesh worked for two years at Ambit, a mid-market Indian investment bank. His profile was of an M&A analyst focusing on the infrastructure sector. In this role, he has worked extensively on transactions across both buy and sell sides, for clients in transportation and power. His nature of work included valuations, preparation of marketing materials, due-diligence, and deal management. Before his stint at Ambit, Devesh was head of operations and strategic alliances at Frapp, a student discount start-up based in Mumbai.

Devesh is a commerce graduate, and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Nitin has overall work experience of 13 years, of which 7.5 years has been in private equity spread across buy-side investments and sell-side advisory with leading Indian financial institutions. He has led transaction closures across equity and debt for USD 2+ billion at SBI Capital Markets.

Prior to joining NIIF, Nitin played an instrumental role at SBICAP Ventures in setting up and managing an infrastructure fund in collaboration with a prominent UK-based investor.

Nitin holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He completed both his Bachelors and Masters of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

Saurabh has 14 years of experience in 12 countries in Asia and Africa. His diverse portfolio includes public private partnerships, regional infrastructure planning, developing and advising on policies and regulations related to infrastructure, contract management and negotiations, feasibility assessments, risk analysis, investment strategy, bid and transaction advisory, and capacity building.

Saurabh has served as the Director of the PPP Unit at the Ministry of Finance in Namibia, prior to which he worked with CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory.
Saurabh has a degree in business management from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (Delhi University), and an MBA from T. A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI).

Anand has a total experience of 18 years, of which 9+ years is in infrastructure funds management in India. Prior to joining NIIF in March 2018, Anand worked for Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) in India, establishing MIRA’s funds management business in India. Before MIRA, Anand worked with KPMG for over 7 years in India and Australia, in the audit and financial advisory services divisions, and with the Universal Music Group in India as a Finance Manager.

Anand holds a Bachelor of Commerce and is an Indian Chartered Accountant. He has also completed his Certified Public Accountancy (US).

Vinod has 16 years of professional experience spanning private equity and strategic consulting. Prior to joining NIIF, he spent ~13 years with IDFC Alternatives. His investment management experience includes early stage, growth stage, and platform deals across diverse sectors, along with managing exits of portfolio companies through IPOs. Prior to joining IDFC Alternatives, Vinod worked with Credit Analysis & Research Limited (CARE), and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

Vinod holds a MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sardar Patel College of Engineering (SPCE), Mumbai.

Rajiv has over 30 years of experience in managing diverse business operations across multiple sectors, with a proven record of accomplishment in Corporate Finance and Investment Management (Venture and Growth Equity). Before joining NIIF, Rajiv was Executive Director with Omzest Group. Prior to that—from 1995 to 2009—Rajiv worked with the Tata Group, spending five years in the Group’s Head Office as Vice President of Tata Industries Ltd (TIL).

Rajiv is a commerce graduate, and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He has attended the Executive Development Program at Wharton Business School and the Leadership Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Prakash has over three decades of experience in the Indian financial system, in areas including corporate finance, project finance, infrastructure lending, infrastructure investments, and credit risk management. In his most recent role before joining NIIF, Prakash was the Chief General Manager at State Bank of India (SBI). He was also the Deputy CEO of SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund (USD 1.2 billion), where he was instrumental in the fund’s investments into airports, telecom towers, thermal power, small hydro, and transportation sectors.

Prakash is a Cost and Management Accountant, having passed with a Merit Certificate, and holds a Diploma in Business Finance.