Leadership

Board Of Directors

  • SHRI SAMIR S. SOMAIYAChairman & Managing Director

    Samir Shantilal Somaiya is the Chairman and Managing Director of our Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in science from Cornell University, a masters’ degree in chemical engineering and a masters’ degree in business administration from Cornell University, and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University.

    He has over 28 years of experience in the chemicals industry. Prior to joining the Company, he was associated with Somaiya Organo-Chemicals Limited as a managing director. He has been conferred with various awards including the Annual Chapter award for Scholastic Achievement by the American Institute of Chemical Engineer in 1988, the Student Award Certificate by the American Institute of Chemists Foundation in 1990, the Lala Shriram National award for leadership in chemical industry by the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers in 2022, the Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy award in 2022, the Industry Excellence award by The Sugar Technologists’ Association of India in 2023, the Sakhar Udyog Gaurav Puraskar by the Deccan Sugar Technologists’ Association (India) Pune in 2023, the Qimpro Gold Standard award for Education by the Qimpro Foundation in 2023 and the Sugar & Ethanol International award as philanthropist of the Sugar Industry in 2024.

  • PROF. M. LAKSHMI KANTAMIndependent Director

    Lakshmi Kantam Mannepalli is an Independent Director of our Company. She holds a bachelors’ degree of science from Andhra University, a masters’ degree of science in chemistry and a doctor of philosophy degree in chemistry from Kurukshetra University. She has been associated with our Company since November 28, 2017 and has several years of experience in the studies of chemical sciences and technology. Prior to joining the Company, she was associated with Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad as a member of the board of governors and CSIR -Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad as a director. She currently holds the position of adjunct professor at Tezpur University and is the Dr. B. P. Godrej Distinguished Professor of Green Chemistry and Sustainability Engineering at Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. She was also elected as a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, India and admitted as a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2013 and has authored several chapters in books and published various patent applications.

  • Dr. Sangeeta SrivastavaExecutive Director

    Sangeeta Arunkumar Srivastava is an Executive Director of our Company. She holds a bachelor’s degree in science and a masters’ degree of science in chemistry from Doctor Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, a masters’ degree of philosophy in chemistry from Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur, and a doctor of philosophy in science from University of Mumbai. She has over 29 years of experience in the research and development. Prior to joining the Company, she was associated with Somaiya Organo-Chemicals Limited as a General Manager (Corporate R&D)..

  • MR. KUMAR L. DESAIIndependent Director

    Mr. Kumar L. Desai has been associated as an advocate with Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa since 30th September 1977.

    He has huge experience in handling cases in Bombay High Court, other high courts and in The Supreme Court of India.

    Apart from this he has also represented in various Tribunals such as National Company Law Tribunal (erstwhile Company Law Board), The Trademark and Copyrights Boards and Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).

    He has also appeared for Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and in other matters against SEBI.

    During his continuous legal practice he has handled cases pertaining to Writs, Company Law Matters, Intellectual Property, Commercial Law and Securities Law.

  • SHRI BHALACHANDRA R. BAKSHIExecutive Director

    Bhalachandra Bakshi is an Executive Director of our Company. He holds a bachelors’ degree of science in agriculture from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. He has been associated with our Company since January 1, 2011 in various capacities and has several years of experience in the agricultural industry.

  • MR HEMANT LUTHRANon-Executive Independent Director

    Hemant Luthra is an Independent Director of our Company. He holds a bachelors’ degree of technology in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Prior to joining the Company, he was associated with Mahindra CIE Automative Ltd as chairman and chief executive officer, Mahindra Forgings Limited and Mahindra Composites Limited as a chairman.

  • SHRI NANDAN MEHTANon-Executive Independent Director

    Nandan Mehta is responsible for Corporate Affairs - Europe, Middle East and Africa, where he looks into policy analysis and stakeholder engagement for the region.
    Prior to this, Nandan was part of the team that launched the cloud computing division of TCS; iON, where he was the head of finance with oversight over commercial, legal and invoicing.
    On graduating with a Bachelor of Chemistry in Mumbai, Nandan received his MBA at The Nyenrode University, The Netherlands – a country that was home for 13 years. During this time, he worked, and travelled extensively for multi-national organisations like General Electric, AT&T-Unisource, KPN-Qwest and Elsevier with responsibilities that were global in their remit.

  • Nitin MehtaIndependent Director

    Nitin Mehta is an Independent Director of our Company. He holds a bachelors’ degree in technology in chemical engineering from Banaras Hindu University, and a post graduate diploma in management from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon. He has experience in consumer business industry globally. Prior to joining the Company, he was associated with L’Oreal Bangladesh Limited as a managing director and Olam International Limited as a vice president (profit centre head-pasta) in Nigeria.

  • SHRI SEAN E. REAGANNon-Executive Independent Director

    Sean is a Finance Executive with over 25 years of leadership in the Chemicals, Plastics and Automotive industries.    Currently, Sean is a Vice President, Global Tax, at Garrett Motion and based in Switzerland.    Previously, he was with Dow Chemical for over 15 years in various roles including Chief Financial Officer for Southeast Asia based in Mumbai.  In addition, he is a current and former Director for companies in several countries, including those located in India, United States, and Switzerland.

    Sean holds a Master of Laws, Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington DC; a Juris Doctor, Michigan State University College of Law, East Lansing, MI; and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and History, Albion College, Albion, MI

  • Suhas Uttam GodageExecutive Director (Works- Sakarwadi)

    Suhas Uttam Godage is the Director (Works – Sakarwadi) of our Company. He holds a bachelors’ degree of science from University of Pune, masters’ degree of business administration in marketing management from Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, Nashik and has completed a post graduate diploma programme in industrial fermentation & alcohol technology from Vasantdada Sugar Institute. He has been associated with our Company in various capacities since 2009 and has over 26 years of experience in the chemicals industry. Prior to joining the Company, he was associated with Somaiya Organo-Chemicals Limited as a distillery chemist.

  • Dr. Raman RamachandranNon- Executive Director

    Raman Ramachandran is the Non-Executive Director of our Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in science (agriculture) from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, a master’s degree of science in entomology from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and a doctor of philosophy from University of Adelaide. He has been associated with our Company since November 30, 2023. He was previously associated with BASF India Limited as chairman and managing director and PI Industries Limited as a director..