agri charcha

18 December 2020, 11:00 am onwards

Register now

The/Nudge Forum | agri charcha

Around two-thirds of India’s population is in rural areas and a large proportion of this population lives in poverty. There is an urgent need to improve the economic conditions of rural households  to ensure that the country’s growth is equitable.

At agri charcha, let’s kickstart conversations on innovations that put these rural households at the center and extend the reach of technology to improve profitability of farms, increase livelihood opportunities in rural India, and script a future where no Indian is left behind.

agenda

11:00 AM

Announcement of Cisco Agri Challenge

Launch of The Cisco Agri Challenge. Address by Principal Scientific Advisor, Cisco & The/Nudge leadership team, Video messages by Partners.

Speaker:
Dr. K. VijayRaghavan - Principal Scientific Advisor, GOI

×

Prof. K. VijayRaghavan

Principal Scientific Advisor

Government of India

Prof K. VijayRaghavan is a distinguished professor in the field of developmental genetics and former director of the National Centre of Biological Sciences. His fields of specialization are developmental biology, genetics, and neurogenetics.
12:00 PM

Opening Keynote

Inspirational talk about the need for innovation that reaches a large segment of rural populations and improves their lives.

Speaker:
Mr. Nagendra Nath Sinha, MoRD Secretary

×

Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha

MoRD Secretary

Govt of India

He is the Managing Director of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation limited. He has done M.Sc (Health Sciences) from Johns Hopkins University and B.Tech ( Electrical) from IIT Kanpur. He has also worked as Additional Chief Secretary, Rural Development, Govt. of Jharkhand where he played a pivotal role in organizing rural poor, creating sustainable livelihood & employment opportunities & NRM based development. He has led several departments including PWD, Mines, Industry, IT etc in Jharkhand. He has also been instrumental in development of several policies and documents viz. PWD Code 2012, public private partnership policy etc.
12:30 PM

Panel: Understanding the needs to Indian rural households

Build a strong understanding of the challenges faced by rural households and the opportunities to bring improvements to the farm productivity as well as look at other agrarian livelihoods for the rural households.

Speakers:
Ms. Alka Upadhyaya - Addnl Secretary, MoRD; Dr. Kalpana Sastry - Director, Aghub, PJTSAU; Mr. Apoorva Oza, CEO, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme; Ms. Mekhala Krishnamurthy A. Professor Ashoka University; Mr. Nilay D Kapoor - Chief General Manager, NABARD

×

Ms. Alka Upadhyaya

Additional Secretary, MoRD

Govt of India

Alka Upadhyaya is the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development, Director General of the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency, CEO of the National Rural Livelihood Mission, and Director General of the Council for Advancement of Peoples’ Action & Rural Technology. She is an IAS officer since 1990. She has been instrumental in the implementation & policy making of various rural development programs - Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, IT platforms for geospatial planning of rural roads & corroborating pre- & post-construction status using remote sensing technology etc. In her current role at NRLM, she works on promoting capacity building & developing skills of rural women & youth to catalyze opportunities for rural livelihoods & create an enabling environment for rural entrepreneurship.
×

Dr. Kalpana Sastry

Former Joint Director

ICAR

Dr. Sastry has more than 23 years of experience in the areas of Technology assessment, IP and Technology Transfer. She is currently working as Head of the Agricultural Research Systems Management and Policies Division (ARSMP). She has initiated innovative training programs in science, law & regulation; managing research partnerships in consortia in all sectors across the agricultural supply chain and rural livelihood systems. She is a member of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research team responsible for actualization of IP & Tech commercialization policy. She has authored more than 90 publications in international and national journals.
×

Mr. Apoorva Oza

CEO

Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)

Mr. Apoorva Oza is the Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India).<br>Mr. Oza started his career as a Deputy Manager (Projects and Engineering) with Gujarat Dairy Development Corporation. He joined AKRSP (India) as a Field Team Leader in 1988 and in 1994, was the Head of Programmes. He was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AKRSP (India) in 2001.<br>Apoorva Oza&nbsp;is a mechanical engineer with a diploma in rural management from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). He has also done a course on �Strategies for Change: Managing NGOs� from Cranford University, United Kingdom, and a three-month course from Cornell University, USA.
×

Ms. Mekhala Krishnamurthy

Associate Professor

Ashoka University

Mekhala Krishnamurthy is currently leading a major interdisciplinary & comparative research project on agricultural markets, agro-commodity networks & farmers’ incomes in Punjab, Bihar & Odisha. She is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research and Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Ashoka University. She has trained at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge and at University College London, where she completed her Ph.D. in Anthropology as a UCL Global Excellence Scholar. She is also a Non-Resident Scholar at the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research, publications, policy & professional engagements include a wide range of subjects - women's courts & dispute resolution, community health workers & public health systems, agriculture & agricultural markets, water, livelihood security & land acquisition. Her doctoral research & current book project explores the changing social, economic & political lives & relationships of an agricultural market/mandi in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
×

Mr. Nilay D Kapoor

Chief General Manager

NABARD

Mr. Nilay Kapoor is the Chief General Manager of Farm Sector, Development Department, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). He was heading the Himachal Pradesh operations of NABARD as CGM at Shimla, prior to this. He has a comprehensive and varied experience in rural credit, economic and policy issues. He has also served as the Managing Director, NABSAMRUDDHI, a subsidiary of NABARD. He is also a Faculty Member in National Bank Training Centre (NBTC), Lucknow.
01:45PM

Stories of change: Empowering Women Farmers
‍

Presentation on role of NRLM and experience of working with women farmers

Speaker:
Mr. Alok De - CEO, FDRVC

×

Mr. Alok De

CEO

FDRVC/NRLM

Alok is a Rural Management Graduate from IRMA with over 25 years of experience traversing from rural development to commercial sector handling agri-commodity, dairy, poultry and NTFP. He brings in experience from the development sector, government program management & commercial sector. He is leading setting up of Foundation for development of Rural Value Chains (FDRVC) an organization jointly promoted by Ministry of Rural Development and Tata Trusts to promote large size women producer owned collective enterprises in farm and non farm sector. Alok also has rich experience from grass root interventions in community development, market linked value chain promotion, women empowerment to policy level initiatives and rolling out programs at state and national levels.
02:00 PM

Panel: Understanding the policy environment in rural livelihoods

Present a balanced viewpoint of the regulatory environment affecting rural households, from the perspective of various players like Govt., Foundations, Large corporates, Farmers, Researchers etc.

Speakers:
Mr. Charanjit Singh - Joint Secretary, NRLM; Mr. Aneesh Jain - Founder, Gram Unnati; Dr. Shamika Ravi - Research Director, Brookings Institute; Mr. Pramathesh Ambasta - CEO, Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation; Mr. Rajnikant Rai - Divisional Chief Executive, Agri Business, ITC; Mr. Gunvant Patil - Leader, Shetkari Sangathan; Mr. K.P. Krishnan - NCAER, ex-IAS

×

Mr. Charanjit Singh

Joint Secretary

NRLM

×

Mr. Aneesh Jain

Gram Unnati

Aneesh is the founder of Gram Unnati - a company specialising in connecting smallholder farmers to large agro-processors. They currently reach about 200,000 farmers across 6 states. Prior to setting up Gram Unnati, Aneesh used to be a Consultant at McKinsey & Company. He has also consulted multilateral agencies like IFC and IFAD. Aneesh graduated from IIT Kharagpur with a major in Computer Science & Engineering.
×

Mr. Pramathesh Ambasta

CEO

Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation

Pramathesh Ambasta has more than three decades of experience in the areas of rural development, livelihoods, entitlement of marginalized communities and watershed management. Besides programme management and implementation, building civil society partnership, capacity building, training and research are his forte. He has worked closely with various Government bodies and consortiums. He has also been the Convener of the National Consortium of CSOs on MGNREGA, working with 72 partners across 76 districts of 12 states of India.
×

Mr. Rajnikant Rai

Divisional Chief Executive, Agri Business

ITC

Rajnikant Rai is the Divisional Chief Executive of ITC Agri Business since June 2020. Prior to this, he was the Chief Operating Officer of the business from March 2020. In his long stint in the Company, Rai has held various leadership roles in agribusiness including that of Executive Vice President, Operations. He was the national head of the path breaking e-Choupal project. Rai is a graduate in Economics and holds a PG Diploma in International Business Management. He worked in a Government organization in Madhya Pradesh and then with Britannia before joining ITC in 1990. He is Executive Committee Member on several industry bodies and commodity exchanges
×

Mr. Gunvant Patil

Leader

Shetkari Sangathan

Gunvant Patil Hangargekar is an engineer by profession, a philanthropist by passion. He has dedicated his life to the cause of the farmers. He has been an active leader of the Shetkari Sangathana, the largest farmers’ association in India. He is presently the General Secretary of the Swatantra Bharat Paksha, the only liberal political party of India. He is also General Secretary of the all-India Kisaan Coordination Committee
×

K. P. Krishnan

Chair Professor,

NCAER, IAS Retired

Dr Krishnan leads a group focused on research & policy outreach in the broad area of regulatory & public economics, including concerns about investor protection & financial sector reforms, land policy & records, public finance, public administration, law, economics & justice. He Joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1983 & has served in various field & secretariat positions in India. Trained in economics, finance & law, he has chaired or served as a member of several GoI committees. He has taught as a visiting professor at the ISB, Ashoka University, etc. & he regularly lectures at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie. He has published on a range of public policy issues in books, journals, and the mainstream media. He holds a B.A. (Hons) in Economics from St Stephen’s College, an LL.B. from the University of Delhi, an M.A. in Economics from the University of Mysore, & a FPM/Ph.D. in Economics & Finance from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
03:30 PM

Panel: Understanding the agri Innovation landscape, opportunities

Conversation on open spaces for Innovation to ideators/innovators looking to solve the challenges of farmers. Includes a showcase of selected tech innovations disrupting/promising to disrupt the agriculture space. Includes presentation of ThinkAg report.

Speakers:
Mr. R. Ramanan - Mission Director, AIM; Mr. Jayesh Ranjan - IT secretary, Govt. of  Telangana; Ms. Ritu Verma - Co-founder, Ankur Capital; Mr. Anil S G CEO, Samunnati; Mr. Nipun Mehrotra - Founder, The Agri Collaboratory

×

Mr. R. Ramanan

Mission Director

Atal Innovation Mission

R Ramanan is the Mission Director of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) - a flagship national Innovation initiative of the Prime Minister & the GoI under the NITI Aayog. He has been instrumental in the launch & execution of several nationwide innovation & entrepreneurship initiatives. He was the Managing Director & CEO of CMC Ltd. Under his leadership CMC share price grew over 2100% between October 2001 to 2014, its operating profits over 1338%, 72% of its business coming from the overseas markets & leading to its successful amalgamation into TCS in 2015. He joined TCS in 1981 after graduating from IIT Mumbai in Electrical Engg & was responsible for product development, technical marketing & global business development among others.
×

Mr. Jayesh Ranjan

Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce & Information Technology Departments

Government of Telangana

Jayesh Ranjan is an IAS from 1992 batch serving in Telangana. He works in the field of developing policy frameworks, attracting new investments, identifying opportunities for utilizing IT in various government processes, & promoting the digital empowerment of the citizens. He holds a Masters Degree in Psychology from Delhi University, Business Management from IIM, Calcutta, & a Masters in Public Management from National University of Singapore. He was awarded the World Bank’s Social Capital Visiting Scholarship in 2002 & the British Government’s Gurukul Chevening Scholarship in 2005. He has done international consultancy assignments for the World Bank, UN-ESCAP among others. He is a part of the National Pool of Trainers in Leadership constituted by the GoI, & is involved in training & mentoring new Civil Servants. He was also awarded the Royal Order of the Polar Star by His Majesty The King of Sweden in 2019 for promoting Swedish business in India including the opening of IKEA’s first Indian store in Hyderabad.
×

Ms. Ritu Verma

Co-founder

Ankur Capital Fund

Ritu Verma is the cofounder & managing partner at Ankur Capital – a venture capital firm investing in innovation & disruptive technologies across multi sectors. Prior to this, she ran an advisory firm Traven, for venture funds looking to promote renewable energy, agri-biotech & materials in India & the SE market. She holds an MBA from INSEAD & a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pennsylvania. Ritu is also part of the steering committee & director at ThinkAg an agri-sector platform for scaling innovations in India. She is also a member of the IMC agri and food processing committee.
×

Mr. Anil Kumar SG

Founder and CEO

Samunnati

Anil is a career banker with over 28 years of experience in the areas of Rural, Retail & Agri Banking. Over the last decade, Anil’s work has been focused on creating newer institutions across the country, operating in financially excluded markets & capacity building. In 2014, he founded Samunnati that offers financial & non-financial solutions to marginal, small & medium farmers, agricultural enterprises & wholesalers / retailers. Prior to Samunnati, he was the Co-Founder & Trustee of IFMR Trust and the CEO of IFMR Rural Channels. He holds a Masters in Management from Asian Institute of Management, Manila. He also holds a Masters in Business Administration from Symbiosis Institute of Management, Pune.
×

Nipun Mehrotra

Founder

The Agri Collaboratory

Nipun Mehrotra is a transformational business leader with 35 years of diverse experience in Wipro & IBM leading strategic initiatives & operational businesses in India & the Asia Pacific Region. He was the Chief Digital Officer, India/SA, with IBM (till 2019) & led IBM’s thrust on digital platforms & innovation. He is currently building “The Agri Collaboratory” (TAC), an outcome-focussed, not-for-profit, “Think & Do Tank” focused on strengthening the public-private foundation for agricultural innovation & transformation to deliver national goals.
05:00 PM

Open House on Cisco Agri Challenge

Open house for Q&A and interaction with Cisco Agri Challenge team and other partners

Speaker:
Ms. Sudha Srinivasan, The/Nudge Centre for Social Innovation; Dr. Sapna Poti - Programme Director, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India; Mr. Nagaraja Prakasam - Partner, Acumen Fund

×

Ms. Sudha Srinivasan

CEO

The/Nudge CSI

Sudha leads N/Core and related initiatives to attract and develop top talent working on problems of poverty. She started her career in the technology sector, and spent 16 years in various leadership roles spanning business operations, engineering and organizational development. Her passion is in enabling organizations to ramp in scale and competence to achieve audacious goals. She was therefore attracted to the development sector and the immense opportunities it offers for organizations to innovate and grow their impact. Sudha is an engineer, and MBA from IIM Lucknow.
×

Ms. Sapna Poti

Programme Director, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser

GoI

×

Mr. Naga Prakasam

Partner

Acumen Fund

REGISTER NOW

speakers

Prof. K. VijayRaghavan

Principal Scientific Advisor

Government of India

×

Prof. K. VijayRaghavan

Principal Scientific Advisor

Government of India

Prof K. VijayRaghavan is a distinguished professor in the field of developmental genetics and former director of the National Centre of Biological Sciences. His fields of specialization are developmental biology, genetics, and neurogenetics.

Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha

MoRD Secretary

Govt of India

×

Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha

MoRD Secretary

Govt of India

He is the Managing Director of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation limited. He has done M.Sc (Health Sciences) from Johns Hopkins University and B.Tech ( Electrical) from IIT Kanpur. He has also worked as Additional Chief Secretary, Rural Development, Govt. of Jharkhand where he played a pivotal role in organizing rural poor, creating sustainable livelihood & employment opportunities & NRM based development. He has led several departments including PWD, Mines, Industry, IT etc in Jharkhand. He has also been instrumental in development of several policies and documents viz. PWD Code 2012, public private partnership policy etc.

Ms. Alka Upadhyaya

Additional Secretary, MoRD

Govt of India

×

Ms. Alka Upadhyaya

Additional Secretary, MoRD

Govt of India

Alka Upadhyaya is the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development, Director General of the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency, CEO of the National Rural Livelihood Mission, and Director General of the Council for Advancement of Peoples’ Action & Rural Technology. She is an IAS officer since 1990. She has been instrumental in the implementation & policy making of various rural development programs - Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, IT platforms for geospatial planning of rural roads & corroborating pre- & post-construction status using remote sensing technology etc. In her current role at NRLM, she works on promoting capacity building & developing skills of rural women & youth to catalyze opportunities for rural livelihoods & create an enabling environment for rural entrepreneurship.

Dr. Kalpana Sastry

Former Joint Director

ICAR

×

Dr. Kalpana Sastry

Former Joint Director

ICAR

Dr. Sastry has more than 23 years of experience in the areas of Technology assessment, IP and Technology Transfer. She is currently working as Head of the Agricultural Research Systems Management and Policies Division (ARSMP). She has initiated innovative training programs in science, law & regulation; managing research partnerships in consortia in all sectors across the agricultural supply chain and rural livelihood systems. She is a member of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research team responsible for actualization of IP & Tech commercialization policy. She has authored more than 90 publications in international and national journals.

Mr. Apoorva Oza

CEO

Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)

×

Mr. Apoorva Oza

CEO

Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)

Mr. Apoorva Oza is the Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India).<br>Mr. Oza started his career as a Deputy Manager (Projects and Engineering) with Gujarat Dairy Development Corporation. He joined AKRSP (India) as a Field Team Leader in 1988 and in 1994, was the Head of Programmes. He was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AKRSP (India) in 2001.<br>Apoorva Oza&nbsp;is a mechanical engineer with a diploma in rural management from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). He has also done a course on �Strategies for Change: Managing NGOs� from Cranford University, United Kingdom, and a three-month course from Cornell University, USA.

Ms. Mekhala Krishnamurthy

Associate Professor

Ashoka University

×

Ms. Mekhala Krishnamurthy

Associate Professor

Ashoka University

Mekhala Krishnamurthy is currently leading a major interdisciplinary & comparative research project on agricultural markets, agro-commodity networks & farmers’ incomes in Punjab, Bihar & Odisha. She is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research and Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Ashoka University. She has trained at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge and at University College London, where she completed her Ph.D. in Anthropology as a UCL Global Excellence Scholar. She is also a Non-Resident Scholar at the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research, publications, policy & professional engagements include a wide range of subjects - women's courts & dispute resolution, community health workers & public health systems, agriculture & agricultural markets, water, livelihood security & land acquisition. Her doctoral research & current book project explores the changing social, economic & political lives & relationships of an agricultural market/mandi in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Mr. Alok De

CEO

FDRVC/NRLM

×

Mr. Alok De

CEO

FDRVC/NRLM

Alok is a Rural Management Graduate from IRMA with over 25 years of experience traversing from rural development to commercial sector handling agri-commodity, dairy, poultry and NTFP. He brings in experience from the development sector, government program management & commercial sector. He is leading setting up of Foundation for development of Rural Value Chains (FDRVC) an organization jointly promoted by Ministry of Rural Development and Tata Trusts to promote large size women producer owned collective enterprises in farm and non farm sector. Alok also has rich experience from grass root interventions in community development, market linked value chain promotion, women empowerment to policy level initiatives and rolling out programs at state and national levels.

Mr. Nilay D Kapoor

Chief General Manager

NABARD

×

Mr. Nilay D Kapoor

Chief General Manager

NABARD

Mr. Nilay Kapoor is the Chief General Manager of Farm Sector, Development Department, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). He was heading the Himachal Pradesh operations of NABARD as CGM at Shimla, prior to this. He has a comprehensive and varied experience in rural credit, economic and policy issues. He has also served as the Managing Director, NABSAMRUDDHI, a subsidiary of NABARD. He is also a Faculty Member in National Bank Training Centre (NBTC), Lucknow.

Mr. Charanjit Singh

Joint Secretary

NRLM

×

Mr. Charanjit Singh

Joint Secretary

NRLM

Mr. Aneesh Jain

Gram Unnati

×

Mr. Aneesh Jain

Gram Unnati

Aneesh is the founder of Gram Unnati - a company specialising in connecting smallholder farmers to large agro-processors. They currently reach about 200,000 farmers across 6 states. Prior to setting up Gram Unnati, Aneesh used to be a Consultant at McKinsey & Company. He has also consulted multilateral agencies like IFC and IFAD. Aneesh graduated from IIT Kharagpur with a major in Computer Science & Engineering.

Mr. Pramathesh Ambasta

CEO

Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation

×

Mr. Pramathesh Ambasta

CEO

Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation

Pramathesh Ambasta has more than three decades of experience in the areas of rural development, livelihoods, entitlement of marginalized communities and watershed management. Besides programme management and implementation, building civil society partnership, capacity building, training and research are his forte. He has worked closely with various Government bodies and consortiums. He has also been the Convener of the National Consortium of CSOs on MGNREGA, working with 72 partners across 76 districts of 12 states of India.

Mr. Rajnikant Rai

Divisional Chief Executive, Agri Business

ITC

×

Mr. Rajnikant Rai

Divisional Chief Executive, Agri Business

ITC

Rajnikant Rai is the Divisional Chief Executive of ITC Agri Business since June 2020. Prior to this, he was the Chief Operating Officer of the business from March 2020. In his long stint in the Company, Rai has held various leadership roles in agribusiness including that of Executive Vice President, Operations. He was the national head of the path breaking e-Choupal project. Rai is a graduate in Economics and holds a PG Diploma in International Business Management. He worked in a Government organization in Madhya Pradesh and then with Britannia before joining ITC in 1990. He is Executive Committee Member on several industry bodies and commodity exchanges

Mr. Gunvant Patil

Leader

Shetkari Sangathan

×

Mr. Gunvant Patil

Leader

Shetkari Sangathan

Gunvant Patil Hangargekar is an engineer by profession, a philanthropist by passion. He has dedicated his life to the cause of the farmers. He has been an active leader of the Shetkari Sangathana, the largest farmers’ association in India. He is presently the General Secretary of the Swatantra Bharat Paksha, the only liberal political party of India. He is also General Secretary of the all-India Kisaan Coordination Committee

K. P. Krishnan

Chair Professor,

NCAER, IAS Retired

×

K. P. Krishnan

Chair Professor,

NCAER, IAS Retired

Dr Krishnan leads a group focused on research & policy outreach in the broad area of regulatory & public economics, including concerns about investor protection & financial sector reforms, land policy & records, public finance, public administration, law, economics & justice. He Joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1983 & has served in various field & secretariat positions in India. Trained in economics, finance & law, he has chaired or served as a member of several GoI committees. He has taught as a visiting professor at the ISB, Ashoka University, etc. & he regularly lectures at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie. He has published on a range of public policy issues in books, journals, and the mainstream media. He holds a B.A. (Hons) in Economics from St Stephen’s College, an LL.B. from the University of Delhi, an M.A. in Economics from the University of Mysore, & a FPM/Ph.D. in Economics & Finance from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Nipun Mehrotra

Founder

The Agri Collaboratory

×

Nipun Mehrotra

Founder

The Agri Collaboratory

Nipun Mehrotra is a transformational business leader with 35 years of diverse experience in Wipro & IBM leading strategic initiatives & operational businesses in India & the Asia Pacific Region. He was the Chief Digital Officer, India/SA, with IBM (till 2019) & led IBM’s thrust on digital platforms & innovation. He is currently building “The Agri Collaboratory” (TAC), an outcome-focussed, not-for-profit, “Think & Do Tank” focused on strengthening the public-private foundation for agricultural innovation & transformation to deliver national goals.

Mr. Anil Kumar SG

Founder and CEO

Samunnati

×

Mr. Anil Kumar SG

Founder and CEO

Samunnati

Anil is a career banker with over 28 years of experience in the areas of Rural, Retail & Agri Banking. Over the last decade, Anil’s work has been focused on creating newer institutions across the country, operating in financially excluded markets & capacity building. In 2014, he founded Samunnati that offers financial & non-financial solutions to marginal, small & medium farmers, agricultural enterprises & wholesalers / retailers. Prior to Samunnati, he was the Co-Founder & Trustee of IFMR Trust and the CEO of IFMR Rural Channels. He holds a Masters in Management from Asian Institute of Management, Manila. He also holds a Masters in Business Administration from Symbiosis Institute of Management, Pune.

Ms. Ritu Verma

Co-founder

Ankur Capital Fund

×

Ms. Ritu Verma

Co-founder

Ankur Capital Fund

Ritu Verma is the cofounder & managing partner at Ankur Capital – a venture capital firm investing in innovation & disruptive technologies across multi sectors. Prior to this, she ran an advisory firm Traven, for venture funds looking to promote renewable energy, agri-biotech & materials in India & the SE market. She holds an MBA from INSEAD & a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pennsylvania. Ritu is also part of the steering committee & director at ThinkAg an agri-sector platform for scaling innovations in India. She is also a member of the IMC agri and food processing committee.

Mr. Jayesh Ranjan

Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce & Information Technology Departments

Government of Telangana

×

Mr. Jayesh Ranjan

Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce & Information Technology Departments

Government of Telangana

Jayesh Ranjan is an IAS from 1992 batch serving in Telangana. He works in the field of developing policy frameworks, attracting new investments, identifying opportunities for utilizing IT in various government processes, & promoting the digital empowerment of the citizens. He holds a Masters Degree in Psychology from Delhi University, Business Management from IIM, Calcutta, & a Masters in Public Management from National University of Singapore. He was awarded the World Bank’s Social Capital Visiting Scholarship in 2002 & the British Government’s Gurukul Chevening Scholarship in 2005. He has done international consultancy assignments for the World Bank, UN-ESCAP among others. He is a part of the National Pool of Trainers in Leadership constituted by the GoI, & is involved in training & mentoring new Civil Servants. He was also awarded the Royal Order of the Polar Star by His Majesty The King of Sweden in 2019 for promoting Swedish business in India including the opening of IKEA’s first Indian store in Hyderabad.

Ms. Sudha Srinivasan

CEO

The/Nudge CSI

×

Ms. Sudha Srinivasan

CEO

The/Nudge CSI

Sudha leads N/Core and related initiatives to attract and develop top talent working on problems of poverty. She started her career in the technology sector, and spent 16 years in various leadership roles spanning business operations, engineering and organizational development. Her passion is in enabling organizations to ramp in scale and competence to achieve audacious goals. She was therefore attracted to the development sector and the immense opportunities it offers for organizations to innovate and grow their impact. Sudha is an engineer, and MBA from IIM Lucknow.

Mr. R. Ramanan

Mission Director

Atal Innovation Mission

×

Mr. R. Ramanan

Mission Director

Atal Innovation Mission

R Ramanan is the Mission Director of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) - a flagship national Innovation initiative of the Prime Minister & the GoI under the NITI Aayog. He has been instrumental in the launch & execution of several nationwide innovation & entrepreneurship initiatives. He was the Managing Director & CEO of CMC Ltd. Under his leadership CMC share price grew over 2100% between October 2001 to 2014, its operating profits over 1338%, 72% of its business coming from the overseas markets & leading to its successful amalgamation into TCS in 2015. He joined TCS in 1981 after graduating from IIT Mumbai in Electrical Engg & was responsible for product development, technical marketing & global business development among others.

Ms. Sapna Poti

Programme Director, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser

GoI

×

Ms. Sapna Poti

Programme Director, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser

GoI

Mr. Naga Prakasam

Partner

Acumen Fund

×

Mr. Naga Prakasam

Partner

Acumen Fund

© 2022 The/Nudge. All rights reserved.