Board of Directors

Mr. Rajnikant Shroff (alias Mr. Rajju Shroff) is born in a family of entrepreneurs in a small town in Kutch, India. Passionate about chemistry and chemicals right from the beginning, Mr. Rajnikant Shroff, the CMD of UPL, pioneered Red Phosphorus manufacturing in 1969, giving an impetus to the indigenous chemical industry.

A committed visionary

Eager to do something different, Mr. Rajju Shroff has always taken the road less traveled. A graduate of Chemistry from the Bombay University, he established a novel process of manufacturing mercury salts in a plant at U.K. and was paid royalty for it by the British Company; a big achievement for any Indian way back in 1957. Soon after, he mastered red phosphorous and quickly moved on to the production of other chemicals like Aluminium Phosphide (fumigant) and Zinc Phosphide (rodenticide) for agriculture. In 1980s, UPL started launching an avalanche of crop protection products and is one of the leading total crop solutions providers in the world now.

Motivated to make a real difference

He believes that the prosperity of his company must be shared with not just the stakeholders but the society at large too. His wholehearted support encourages one and all at UPL to contribute to various social activities and actively work towards betterment of the people.

Looked up to by the world

His dedication to his company and his causes is unwavering. His many awards are a mere testimony of his legend.

Some of them are:

• On the Eve of the 72nd Republic Day Mr. Rajnikant Shroff was conferred one of India’s highest civilian award, for his contribution to the field of trade and industry 2021
• Mr. Rajnikant Shroff honored with the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle in 2018
• Shri. Rajju Shroff, Chairman and MD of UPL was bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2015 by AGROW
• Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (manufacturing) in 2013
• Indian Chemical Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award for the entrepreneur in 2010
• Lifetime Achievement Award by Chemexil in 2008

Jai Shroff is the Global CEO of UPL Limited. He is a well-recognized global leader in the Chemical & Agri-Inputs industry with over 30 years experience in India and internationally.

UPL group is focused on strengthening the food security in over 130 countries by offering world class technologies and solutions for sustainable agriculture production. Under Jai's leadership, UPL has been one of the fastest growing agri-input companies in the world with strong presence in the Seeds, Plant Nutrition, Crop Protection and Post Harvest, +Biologicals food preservation value chains. He has driven the transformation of UPL from a largely domestic player to a truly global Indian multinational organization.

Jai believes in the power of collaboration and inter-sectoral partnerships. He is actively involved in the global development agenda, including the World Economic Forum's Grow Africa and Grow Asia initiatives, IFPRI's Sustainable Agriculture and Global Food Security Initiative, WBCSD, Chicago Council, IGD and ICAR.

Vikram Shroff is part of the leadership team of UPL, he has been passionately driving continuous organizational improvement with his dynamic leadership, sound strategic insights and outstanding people management skills.

Blessed with the ability to look into the minutest details, Vikram has set challenging cross-functional aspirations for the company, leveraging the organizational values towards excellence. He is instrumental in making strategic decisions for the Company, leads many of the functions and has been responsible in the execution of several projects of the group.

A philanthropist to the core, Vikram is leading the war against COVID – 19 with various initiatives.

He is very enthusiastic about the social development projects and the educational endeavours of the Shroff family that benefits more than 5,600 students annually. He believes in spreading the light of knowledge through innovative learning methods and leads a team that constantly strives for the same.

Mr. Arun Ashar, UPL’s Director of Finance, blends knowledge and love for nature. Apart from being a highly successful Chartered Accountant with a rich experience of 42 years, he is also a member of the National Society of Friends of Trees and Giri Vihar, a well-known mountaineering club. He is known to handle matters of audit, taxation, legal, purchase and business development with the same grace with which he climbs peaks.

He is a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, completed his graduation from the University of Mumbai and obtained his CA degree from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Mr. Pradeep Goyal is a qualified engineer, having completed his B. Tech (Metallurgy) from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (1978) and S.M. (Materials Science and Engineering) from the world renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, (1980). He was trained at Mukand Limited, India and Degussa International, Germany. He also worked at Air Products and Chemicals Inc., USA for 3 years at various positions, before he joined as Whole Time Director of Pradeep Metals Limited in the year 1983. He was promoted as Chairman and Managing Director of the Company on August 31st, 2001. He is also currently on the Board of Directors of Munak Engineers Private Limited, UPL Limited, Uniphos Enterprises Ltd, Hind Rectifiers Limited, IIT Bombay Research Park, Technology Development Board and NIFFT. He has been a Trustee of ASM International, USA (2005-2008), a Fellow of the ASM International. He is also a Member of Indo- German Chamber of Commerce, Indian Merchants Chamber and Thane Belapur Industries Association. He is also the Chairman of Ekal Abhiyan of India, an NGO which operates over 1,00,000 tribal schools in India. He is also a developer of patented innovative technologies using high temperature microwaves.

Double doctorate in Chemistry from Allahabad University & France, Dr. Reena Ramachandran, former CMD, Hindustan Organic Chemicals, currently Independent Director in the Board of ‘United Phosphorus Ltd.’ (Now UPL Ltd), served as Member of Task Force, Performance Management Division, Cabinet secretariat; Member of the Board of Governors, IIT (Kanpur); Senior Scientific Officer, Ministry of Science and Technology; Member – Governing Board, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR); Expert Member, Technical Advisory Committee on HR, Reserve Bank of India; Member of the Expert Committee of HRD Ministry for devising Policy perspective for Management Education; Member, Film Censor Board. She has over 40 years of experience across petroleum, petrochemicals and cement industry (GM, ONGC /Ex. Director PCRA/ GGM, Cement Research Institute, Ballabhgarh) & over a decade of experience in Management Education.

She was awarded as ‘Mahila Shiromani’ by Vice President of India,1989; ‘Best Communicator’ by Press Council,1989; ‘Manager of the Year’ by ONGC, 1987; ‘Energy Man of the Year’ by IBPL, Urja Research Foundation,1997; Elected Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) & All India Management Association (AIMA); Dewang Mehta Life Time Achievement Award, 2009; “EXEMPLARY LEADER AWARD-2010” by CMO Asia, Singapore; Life Time Achievement Award in Higher Education by Higher Education Forum in 2011; Distinguished Alumni award by Allahabad University Alumni Association in 2015; “Life Time Achievement Award” by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for outstanding contribution to Oil and Gas industry during ‘Urja Sangam – 2015 “

She is the Founder President of the Forum of Women in Public Sector (WIPS). She has been associated with Women Leadership initiative in All India Management association (AIMA) for over 25 years and earlier CII committee on gender issues. She is the Founder member of the “Foundation for restoration of National Values” lead by Mr. Shreedharan, Ex-Chairman, Delhi Metro, Member of the core committee of “Centre for Governance” lead by former Cabinet Secretary, Mr. Prabhat Kumar, Associated with Non-Executive Directors in conversation Trust lead by Former SEBI Chairman.

Mr. Hardeep Singh is BA Hons in Economics from Pune University and Advanced Management Programme Kellogg School of Management.

He was Executive Chairman of Cargill South Asia until 2006 and was responsible for all Cargill companies’ businesses in India and Pakistan. Cargill Inc is a global leader in the agriculture/ food domain. He has served as Chairman Amalgamated Plantations, a Tata Enterprise. APPL holds all of the erstwhile Tata Tea plantation assets in Eastern India. He has also served as Non Executive Chairman of HSBC Invest Direct India Limited and Invest Direct Financial Services India Limited. Mr. Hardeep Singh started his career with the Tata Group and rose through the ranks to be Director – Agrochemicals Rallis India Limited. During his stewardship Rallis Agrochemicals become the largest Agrochemicals business in India with unique assets and capabilities.

Mr. Hardeep Singh has chaired Confederation of Indian Industry [ CII ] national task force on food security and is a past member of National Council of CII and the National Committee for Agriculture of FICCI.He is a keen observer and practitioner in the Global and Indian Agriculture and Food arena. He has been an invited speaker on food and Agriculture at Global Forums including the World Bank, US Department of Agriculture Global Conference, International Food Policy Research Institute [ IFPRI ] in Washington DC, Imperial College UK. He has been a guest lecturer at IIM Ahmedabad.

Vasant P. Gandhi is Ph.D. from Stanford University and a Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). He holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (MBA) from IIM Ahmedabad and a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Pantnagar. He has been Chairman of IIMA's Centre for Management in Agriculture, a Board member of IIMA, and the founder Chairman of IIMA's Post Graduate Programme in Agri-Business Management which is ranked no.1 agri-business programme in the world. Dr. Gandhi has worked with the World Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington, and at the grassroots level in agriculture and development in India. He has been Visiting Professor at University of Sydney, and James Cook University in Australia, and is adjunct Professor at the University of South Australia. He has produced numerous books and over 100 research papers on issues ranging from economics, finance, food & agriculture policies, institutions & technology in agriculture, as well as markets & agribusiness. A well-known economist and management expert, he has been on a Prime Minister's Task Force, and consultant & advisor to numerous public and private organizations and, is on the Boards of several companies.

An MBA from Harvard Business School, Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai brings in rich experience in the areas of banking and finance. She makes regular appearance on listings by Fortune and others of international women in business. A recipient of many awards and honours, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contribution to Trade and Industry.

Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai is presently the Chairman of Advent Private Equity India Advisory Board; a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of LafargeHolcim, Max Financial Services, Gland Pharma and Cipla; Trustee of Asia House in the UK; India Advisory Council member of the US-India Business Council (USIBC); and Past President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). She retired in December 2015 as an Executive Director from the Board of HSBC Asia Pacific and Chairman of HSBC India, and in April 2018 as Non-Executive Director on the global board of Nestle.

She has published several articles in mainline dailies and has authored 3 books, “Survive Or Sink - An Action Agenda for Sanitation, Water, Pollution and Green Finance”, “Contemporary Banking in India” and “30 Women in Power: Their Voices, Their Stories.”

Her interests in water, sanitation and the environment and empowerment of women are reflected in her engagements at Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, International Advisory Council of the Inquiry of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Commissioner for the Global Commission on Economy & Climate, Advisory Board Wildlife Conservation Trust, The Rockfeller Foundation Economic Council for Planetary Health, Chair of FICCI’s Water Mission and founder and Chair of the India Sanitation Coalition.

She chairs the Financial Services Working Group of the BRICs Business Council and is a member the INDO-ASEAN Business Council. She is also a member of the Army Group Insurance Fund’s investment advisory committee, Harvard Business School’s South Asia Advisory Board and Standard Chartered Bank’s International Advisory Council.

She has been a member of the Government of India’s Industry Task Force, the Prime Minister’s Trade and Industry Council, the National Manufacturing Council, the National Trade Council, and on the Working Group on Banking, Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission and the National Institute of Bank Management.

Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Lady Shriram College, Delhi University and Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, Boston, USA.

Roberta was Duke Energy’s Chief Sustainability Officer from 2008 until 2012. She joined Duke Energy in 1986 and has over 30 years of experience in energy and environmental issues. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Blue Cross North Carolina (since 2005), Echo Health Ventures (since 2016) and was an Independent Director of Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. (from 2018 to 2019). She is a former Board member and Board Chair of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (“LPGA”) (from 2011 to 2017). In 2018, she accepted a limited term role with the LPGA as the association’s Chief Brand and Communications Officer.

Davor has a Bachelor’s in Economics and Politics from Exeter University and a Master’s in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has more than thirty years of business leadership experience in agrochemicals, seeds and agricultural biotechnology, including nine years as Chief Operating Officer of Syngenta AG.

Stephen graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario and has 30 years of experience in the Agricultural sector. Stephen spent the majority of his career with Agrium (now Nutrien) developing broad operational, financial and leadership experience base allowing his to progress to increasingly senior positions. He has a proven track record as in a senior executive in positions, which have included Vice President of Operations, Chief Financial Officer and President Retail Operations. Stephen is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) and the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD).

Paul is the current Executive Chairman of luxury automotive, motorsport and technology company McLaren Group after working as a Chairman of Compass Group Plc and various senior roles in Private Equity. He was also previously the Chief Executive Officer of Diageo plc for 13 years. He is also a non-executive director of FedEx Corporation and McDonald’s Corporation.

Jerome graduated from Instituts d’études politiques, Paris, France in 1975 and is currently handling board assignments as Director at Ashland, Covington, Ohio and Xylem, Whiteplains, New York. He has professional experience in Sealed Air Corporation as President and Chief Executive Officer from March 2013 to December 2017. Prior to his role in Sealed Air Corporation, he was the Executive VP at Dow Chemical, and the CEO of Dow Advanced Materials, where he spent more than 35 years, serving in a variety of leadership roles internationally.

Puneet is Co-Managing Partner and Country Head of India of TPG Capital Asia. Prior to joining TPG in 2002, he was the Chief Executive of the Private Equity group of GE India and a member of the Project and Corporate Finance group at ICICI Limited. He serves on the Boards of Directors of several TPG portfolio companies including Jana Capital, Manipal Hospitals, Shriram Capital, Union Bank of Colombo, RR Kabel, and Sai Pharma. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) degree from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.

Mr. Kabir Mathur is Head of India and South East Asia within the Private Equities Department of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and is responsible for leading ADIAs investment and portfolio management activities in these regions.

Prior to joining ADIA in 2018, Mr. Mathur worked at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) where he was responsible for sourcing, executing and managing private equity investments in Asia. Mr. Mathur joined KKR in 2008, having previously worked at TPG Capital, also in their Asian private equity business. Mr. Mathur began his career in the Investment Banking division of Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney.

Mr. Mathur graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a BSc (Hons.) in Economics.

Uttam is a fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He has more than 12 years of experience in the global business sector and has been involved in pre-incorporation tax advice, company set up, and administration, secretarial and accounting services. He is currently responsible for the finance and administration of UPL’s subsidiaries.

Doomraj is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK. He has around ten years of professional experience in the global business sector as well as prior audit experience. He is involved in the Corporate Services Team of IQ EQ. He also sits on the board of several companies.