Hikal is managed by a team of experienced technocrats, chemists and finance professionals.
Jai Hiremath is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Hikal and has over 41 years of experience in the fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry. Mr. Hiremath developed Hikal into one of the leading global development and manufacturing companies. A Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, he is a 2002 alumnus of Harvard University, USA. His contribution to the industry has been recognised across global forums. In 2005, he was presented the Chemtech Business Leader of the Year Award (Chemicals). Mr. Hiremath was the former President of the Indian Chemical Council (ICC), as well as the Chairman of the Chemicals Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). He served as a board member of the Drug, Chemical and Associated Technologies Association (DCAT) headquartered in New Jersey, USA and Novartis India Ltd. He is a member of CII’s Pharma Committee.
Sameer Hiremathis the Managing Director of Hikal. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the Company, which includes Research & Technology, Manufacturing Operations to Sales & Marketing. He has over 26 years of experience in technical plant operations, business development and strategy. He has held several key positions at Hikal, including that of an Executive Director. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and an MBA and MS degree in Information Technology from Boston University, USA. Sameer was conferred the ‘Business Leader of the Year’ award by the World Federation of Marketing Professionals and World Federation of Human Resources Professionals in 2019 and the ‘CEO of the Year’award by The World Leadership Congress & Awards in 2021.
Sugandha Hiremath has more than 40 years of experience in Finance. She is an active participant in the Audit Committee at Hikal. She also serves as a Director on the board of several companies.
Amit Kalyani is a member of the management board and Deputy Managing Director of Bharat Forge Limited (BFL), the flagship company of the USD 3 billion Kalyani Group. It operates in specialty steel, hi-tech metallurgical manufacturing, automotive components and infrastructure, along with specialty chemicals sectors. He has been involved with driving the group’s strategy and in the execution of its diversification over the past decade. He is also responsible for finance and M&A. His key focus is on nurturing talent and developing new skills within the organisation, driving growth in new areas and products in the EV space. Mr. Kalyani has been a part of many committees of the Government of India on manufacturing, education, skill development and bilateral relations. He serves as an Independent Director on the board of Schaeffler India Ltd, and he is also a member at USIBC & YPO. He holds a BE degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, USA, and is a graduate from the OPM Program at Harvard Business School.
Shivani Bhasin Sachdeva is the Founder & CEO of India Alternatives, a reputable mid-market private equity fund focused on investing behind transformational themes in India. She has over 19 years of global private equity experience in the US and in India at top private equity funds, including GE Equity, Lightyear Capital and IDFC Private Equity. Shivani has been an active member on the boards of all her portfolio companies, where she has been instrumental in guiding management teams and shaping strategy. Shivani has previously served on the boards of HealthCare Global and Gokaldas Intimatewear, and currently serves on the boards of Brinton Pharmaceuticals and Seclore Technology. She is also an Independent Director at Emaar India. Shivani has received several accolades and recognition for being one of the top women leaders in finance in India, including winning an award for the Top 25 Women Leaders in Finance category by Association of International Wealth Management of India as part of India's Top 100 Women in Finance campaign. She is a frequent speaker on private equity at domestic and international conferences, including Super Return Europe and Singapore and the Indian Venture Capital Association. Shivani received an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in Economics from Mount Holyoke College (Phi-Beta-Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, Sarah Williston Scholar).
Shrikrishna Adivarekar is a qualified Chartered Accountant (Fellow member of the ICAI) with over 19 years of experience. He graduated in Commerce from Pune University in 2002 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2003. He has been working with M/s Kunte& Vaidya Chartered Accountants since 2000 in various capacities and is now the Managing Partner. Mr. Adivarekar has experience dealing with various corporate and legal matters under Direct Tax Laws, Company Law, FEMA etc for various large corporate groups. Mr. Adivarekar serves as an Independent Director on several boards.
Berjis Desai has been practicing transactional and dispute resolution laws for the last 43 years. Since 2003, Berjis has been the Managing Partner, and from 2016, the Senior Partner, of J. Sagar Associates (JSA), a national law firm having more than 300 lawyers. He retired from JSA on April 1, 2017. He is a director of leading listed and non-listed public companies in India including The Great Eastern Shipping Company Limited, Praj Industries Limited, Jubilant Food Works Limited, Man Infraconstruction Limited, Star Health & Allied Insurance Company Limited, Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals Limited, Emcure Pharmaceuticals Limited and Inventurus Knowledge Solutions Limited.
Ramachandra Kaundinya is an expert in the field of management, especially in the business of agriculture. He has a total corporate experience of about 35 years at very senior positions followed by consulting experience of 9 years. He is an author, strategic management consultant, teacher and a policy analyst in India. V. Ramachandra Kaundinya has served on the Boards of Axis Bank, Syngenta India and Axis Finance. Ramachandra Kaundinya has served as Chairman of the Crop Life India and Agricultural Group of the biotech industry association called ABLE and was the Director of the Association of Seed Industry (ASI). He is currently Director General of Federation of Seed Industry of India. He teaches Agri Business Strategy to Agri MBA students at IIMA. He held Chief Executive Officer positions at Advanta Ltd, Emergent Genetics India and Cyanamid Agro. He served as a senior member of the management team of Hoechst India for 13 years.
Ravi Kapoor is a first-generation entrepreneur and Promoter-Director of Heubach Colour Private Limited, owned by the Heubach family with a 600 years’ history of business in Europe. Over the last 25 years as Managing Director of Heubach, he has been responsible for steering Heubach to become one of the most profitable pigments manufacturers globally with a leadership in sustainability. Under his stewardship and with his exceptional business capabilities, Heubach has won several accolades for Environmental Protection and Preservation including Best Responsible Care company from the Indian Chemical Council (ICC). He has a depth of domestic and international experience in the speciality chemicals field, including technology tie-ups, joint-ventures and mergers & acquisitions globally. He is a director of several Companies of Heubach group in India and overseas, serves as a Board member of the Heubach Group globally and is currently the Chairman of the Sustainability and Responsible Care Expert Committee at the Indian Chemical Council. He is also an Alumnus of the University of Mumbai.
Ranjana S Salgaocar is Director and partner in various companies and LLPs within the VIMSON Group, a diversified conglomerate, with interests spanning mining, trading, financial services, mining consultancy, mining and metals accelerator, strategic investment portfolios, real estate, health, agricultural, sports, community welfare and pharmaceuticals. Her extensive board experience includes serving as an Independent Director, for two terms on boards of two banks, South Indian Bank (2014 to 2021) and Syndicate Bank (2000 to 2006). At South Indian Bank (SIB) she chaired two Committees of the Board – Shareholders Grievances Committee and CSR committee and was a member of two other Board Committees – Nominations & Remunerations Committee and Premises Committee. She is the President of Salgaocar Medical Research Centre (SMRC) and is actively involved in the operations of SMRC's V M Salgaocar Hospital, multi-specialty, not for profit, hospital in Goa. Ranjana was a member of the Planning Board of Govt of Goa and a member of the Executive Council of Goa University. In the past, she was the Chairperson of Indian Red cross, Goa, the President of Goa Women's Football Association and a member of the executive committee of 'Special Events Committee", of Ladies Wing of Indian Merchant Chamber, Bombay. She holds Master of Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Bombay University and is a Gold Medallist in Bachelor of Social Work, Bombay University.
Mr. Sarangan Suresh has more than 34 years of experience in operations. Handling multiple sites at the same time worked, with companies like Rallis India Ltd, Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Mylan Laboratories and currently with Hikal Ltd as Senior Vice President – Operations since 2015. A Graduate in Chemical technology from IICT Mumbai (UDCT), Postgraduate in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. Has been spearheading several initiatives and received the CII award for water conservation within the fence category in 2020-21, Won the state award for safety in 2022-23, has won Chairman’s excellence awards during the career at DRL. Started the career as Process Engineer with Rallis India Ltd, Handling Multiple sites as Deputy General Manager- Head of manufacturing, Sun Pharmaceuticals- Associate Director- Manufacturing at DRL, AVP at Wockhardt Ltd, Associate Vice President at Mylan Laboratories and joined Hikal as Vice President-Operations in July 2015. At Hikal worked on several corporate initiatives, a Project Management Tool- DAKSH, Lean Six Sigma manufacturing for key products, worked on several Capacity Expansion projects, Faced several Regulatory audits during the career successfully. Driving the Business Excellence initiative -Project Pinnacle, Working on Projects like Self-Managed Teams and Effective Manpower utilization projects. Chairperson of Execution Committee and Member of Business Leadership Committee at Hikal.
Dr. Axel Kleemann has in-depth knowledge and experience in research and development, production, engineering and drug safety. He was the Director of Corporate Organic Research of Degussa AG (now Evonik Industries) for over 10 years. He was appointed as a member on the management board of Asta Medica AG with the responsibility of research and development, production, engineering and drug safety till 2000. Besides being a board member in various organisations and scientific societies in Germany, Dr. Kleemann was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Protagen AG from 2001 to 2017. He was also a member of advisory boards of several biotech and fine chemical companies. He is the co-author of the standard reference book, Pharmaceutical Substances (5th edition and online version), as well as a member of the editorial board of Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. He is an Honorary Professor of Chemistry at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main.
Dr. Goverdhan Mehta is a globally recognised organic chemist. He is currently University Distinguished Professor and Dr. Kallam Anji Reddy Chair at the School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad. He holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Pune University and has conducted his post-doctoral research at the Michigan State and the Ohio State universities in the USA. Dr. Mehta has been a CSIR Bhatnagar Fellow, National Research Professor as well as the Director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and Vice Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad. He has mentored over a hundred doctoral and post-doctoral students and published nearly 550 research papers. He has over 50 prestigious awards and honours to his credit, nationally and internationally. He has been conferred D.Sc. by over a dozen universities in India and overseas. He was awarded the civilian honour, Padma Shri, in 2000 by the President of India and Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 2004 by the President of France. Dr. Mehta was conferred the 'Order of Merit-Commander's Cross' (Bundesverdienstkreuz) by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2016. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and several Academies and Societies around the world. He is a former President of the Indian National Science Academy and the International Council for Science (ICSU). Mr. Mehta has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Prime Minister of India.
Dr. K.Nagarajan has over 59 years of experience as a Research Chemist. He was the Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Ciba-Geigy Research Centre and Director, Searle R&D Centre, both in Mumbai. He is a recipient of the Bhatnagar Prize in Chemistry and Life Time Research Award from the Chemical Research Society of India. He spearheads the scientific research initiatives at Hikal. He has been associated with several national research institutions such as the CSIR Central Drug Research Institute, scientific agencies such as the Department of Biotechnology and projects of the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Dr. Nagarajan obtained his B.Sc (Hons) in Chemistry from Loyola College, Madras, and Ph.D from the University of Madras. He is a post-doctoral fellow from Wayne State University, Detroit, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, and Zurich University, Zurich.
Jai Hiremath is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Hikal and has over 41 years of experience in the fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry. Mr. Hiremath developed Hikal into one of the leading global development and manufacturing companies. A Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, he is a 2002 alumnus of Harvard University, USA. His contribution to the industry has been recognised across global forums. In 2005, he was presented the Chemtech Business Leader of the Year Award (Chemicals). Mr. Hiremath was the former President of the Indian Chemical Council (ICC), as well as the Chairman of the Chemicals Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). He served as a board member of the Drug, Chemical and Associated Technologies Association (DCAT) headquartered in New Jersey, USA. He is a board member of Novartis India Ltd and a member of CII’s Pharma Committee.
Sameer Hiremathis the Managing Director of Hikal. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the Company, which includes Research & Technology, Manufacturing Operations to Sales & Marketing. He has over 27 years of experience in technical plant operations, business development and strategy. He has held several key positions at Hikal, including that of an Executive Director. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and an MBA and MS degree in Information Technology from Boston University, USA. Sameer was conferred the ‘Business Leader of the Year’ award by the World Federation of Marketing Professionals and World Federation of Human Resources Professionals in 2019 and the ‘CEO of the Year’award by The World Leadership Congress & Awards in 2021.
Anish Swadi is the Senior President – Animal Health & Business Transformation. He has 25 years of industry experience and is leading the "Business Transformation" initiative at the company. He is also responsible for Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations. He served on the board of Rx-360, an international pharmaceutical supply chain consortium. Previously, he worked as an International Financial Portfolio Manager with Merrill Lynch in the US. Mr. Swadi holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business and Finance from Ithaca College, New York, USA and completed the Management Development Program from the Wharton School.
Kuldeep Jain is the Chief Finance Officer. He has over 31 years of experience in financial operations and strategic planning and brings a wealth of experience in accounting, financial planning, analysis, taxation and audits. He has been with Hikal for the past 24 years. Mr. Jain has played a key role in developing and implementing financial procedures to improve and maintain the financial health of the company while keenly overseeing the overall accounting/taxation processes. He is also responsible for investment analysis and analysing the Company's financial strengths and weaknesses. Kuldeep is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, New Delhi.
Manoj Mehrotraisthe President, Pharmaceuticals Business. He has over 35 years of experience in the fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry. He has a B.Tech (Hons) in chemical engineering from IIT-Kharagpur and an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur. In his last assignment at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, he was the global head of the Custom Pharmaceutical Services (CPS) business. Earlier, Mr. Mehrotra worked in companies such as Thermax and SRF Limited. At SRF, his last role was strategising and growing the fluoro-specialty business. At Hikal, he is responsible for strategy, sales and operations of the pharmaceutical division.
Vimal Kulshrestha is the President, Crop Protection Business. He has over 35 years of experience in the fine chemical and agrochemical industry. He completed his B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from H.B. Technical Institute, Kanpur and Executive Management from IIM Kolkata. Mr. Kulshrestha has worked in companies such as Grasim Industries, Modipon Limited with a long stint in Jubilant Group Companies. He has experience in the B2B speciality chemicals and agrochemical industry, handling P&L and senior leadership roles. At Jubilant, Mr. Kulshrestha spent the first 8 years overseeing the technical and manufacturing aspects of the business and in his last assignment, he was the Sr. Vice President and SBU Head of the Ethanol division. He also led the Crop Protection business with the responsibility of strategy, sales, marketing, business development and operations. At Hikal, he is responsible for the P&L of the Crop Protection division.
Ratish Jha is the President, Human Resources. He is a transformational leader with cross-industry experience of 27 years, having worked in different countries and multiple sectors like Pharma, Energy, Automotive, Metal & Mining, Packaging, Manufacturing and Services. Mr. Jha is an alumnus of TISS Mumbai and has attended different business certifications program at IMD Switzerland, University of Michigan, AOTS Japan, ISB, IIM-A. Under his leadership, the companies that he worked for were listed in several forums & won multiple business awards such as - Great Place to Work Award, Companies with Great Managers Award, Most Innovative HR Practices Award by NHRD, Best in class for cultural transformation and Best in class for Most Innovative HR practices by People Matters. Mr. Jha has an enriching experience in talent management, culture change management, capability building. learning & OD interventions, performance management, capability building, employee relations, employee engagement & retention programs.
