Chairman
MD & CEO
Independent Director
Independent Director
Director
MD & CEO
Chief Financial Officer
Business Head (Retail)
Chairman
Akshay Poddar (45), is Sloan Masters in Leadership and Strategy from London Business School, completed Owner/President Management (Executive Education) Program from Harvard Business School. Mr. Poddar is Hons. Graduate in Accounting & Finance from London School of Economics & Political Science, University of London.
Mr. Poddar is the Chairman of Mangalore Chemicals & Fertlizers Ltd. and Gobind Sugar Mills Ltd. He also is a Member of the Boards of several group companies such as Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd., Hettich India Private Limited, Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd., Texmaco Infrastructure & Holdings Ltd., Adventz Securities Enterprises Ltd., Lionel India Ltd., Lionel Edwards Ltd., Adventz Finance Pvt Ltd. Apart from the group companies, he also represented as Director on the boards of several global companies like Globalware Trading & Holdings Ltd., Felicabo Worldwide Ltd. and Adventz Trading DMCC.
Mr Poddar is spearheading the manufacturing and other activities of the group in India, U.A.E and other parts of the World. He is also instrumental in initiating modern industrial and financial management practices in the operations and management of main verticals of the group – Agribusiness, Infrastructure, Emerging Lifestyles and Services.
Managing Director & CEO
Madan brings on board a rich experience of 24 years, and a deep passion for application of digital technology. He is responsible for driving FarmHUB initiatives comprising of key verticals of Farm Advisory, Crop Care, Agri Retail, and Speciality Nutrient business.
Previously, he has worked with leading Consumer and Agro-Input industries like Marico Ltd. and Emami Ltd. in India.
Madan Pandey holds Bachelor of Engineering from National Institute of Technology (NIT) Patna, and Business Management Degree from IMT Ghaziabad.
He has also attended advanced management and transformational leadership programs at institutions such as NUS Business School (National University of Singapore), Ross school of Management, University of Michigan (USA), and Indian school of Business (ISB), Hyderabad.
Independent Director
Amandeep is a professional with 30 years of experience, the last 17 years spent in leadership positions in HR, Corporate Affairs, managing P&L as CEO, Corporate Development and as managing director. He has partnered with the promoters of a conglomerate in its transformation from a family run organization to a value based professionally driven organization. He successfully made the transition from an HR role to general management about 10 years back. His last assignment was managing director and CEO of a diversified business group of approx. 5300 Cr Turnover, after being the director and CEO of a Rs. 4000 Cr Cement business.
He has worked for close to 14 years with Dalmia Bharat Group and has played a key role in the journey of the group from 500 Cr turnover to 12000 Cr.
Amandeep has served on the Boards of 8 companies, two of them listed on the BSE. These companies range from a size of Rs 5000 Crore revenues to a transportation start up, in sectors ranging from manufacturing to software services, to logistics, to e-commerce.In all these years Amandeep has demonstrated capabilities which cut across functions and business verticals.
Independent Director
Mrs. Sonal Shah has experience of over 25 years across M&A, Fund raising, corporate advisory and strategic consulting. She has advised leading Indian and international companies over the years. She has also advised Government of India- Ministry of Food Processing and Ministry of Agriculture and several State Governments on agri/food strategy and its implementation. She lead the team that advised Ministry of Food Processing, GoI on Vision, Strategy and Action Plan for Food Processing in India and many of the recommendations of the report have been implemented by the Government over the years. She also lead the team which prepared Strategy and Action Plan, for the Ministry of Agriculture – GoI, for promoting horticulture in India which was implemented across several states in India.
She has been an active member of Industry Panels including CII, FICCI, Bombay Chambers of Commerce & Industry for the consumer, food, agribusiness and financial services sectors. Some of the clients she has advised include Murugappa Group, Godrej Group, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hollard (South Africa), Heinz India, GSK Consumer, Cafe Coffee Day etc.
Sonal holds a PGDM from IIM Kolkata and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics (Honours) from Hindu College, University of Delhi.
Director
An alumnus of BITS, Pilani, Mr N Suresh Krishnan has been in leadership roles in the Indian Fertiliser Sector for over two decades. He is the current Chairman of Fertilizer Association of India (FAI) and is a member of the Boards of Directors of International Fertilizer Association (IFA) as well as Zuari Maroc Phosphates Pvt Ltd (ZMPPL), the promoter organization of PPL.
Mr Krishnan has been associated with Fertiliser, Energy, Sugar and Cement sectors in a career spanning over 35 years. His corporate experience traverses manufacturing, corporate finance & restructuring, corporate strategy, projects planning & execution, operations, business development and mergers & acquisitions. In the past, he has served as the MD & CEO of Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd (ZACL), Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd (MCFL), and Zuari Industries Limited (ZIL).
Widely acknowledged for his leadership, vision and commitment, N Suresh Krishnan is an active proponent of resource-efficient agriculture.
Managing Director & CEO
Madan brings on board a rich experience of 24 years, and a deep passion for application of digital technology. He is responsible for driving FarmHUB initiatives comprising of key verticals of Farm Advisory, Crop Care, Agri Retail, and Speciality Nutrient business.
Previously, he has worked with leading Consumer and Agro-Input industries like Marico Ltd. and Emami Ltd. in India.
Madan Pandey holds Bachelor of Engineering from National Institute of Technology (NIT) Patna, and Business Management Degree from IMT Ghaziabad.
He has also attended advanced management and transformational leadership programs at institutions such as NUS Business School (National University of Singapore), Ross school of Management, University of Michigan (USA), and Indian school of Business (ISB), Hyderabad.
Chief Financial Officer
Seasoned finance leader having 20+ years of extensive experience in fund raising, fund accounting, valuation of companies, controllership, business finance, financial planning & analysis, compliance, and reporting. His experience spanning across consumer commerce, venture capital, ad-tech, software products & services companies.
Prasanna is a target-oriented senior finance executive whose strength is strategic thinking combined with operational bandwidth. He has experience working in fast paced companies mostly start-up and setting up process, teams ground up across multiple geographies and countries.In his last stint with Furlenco (Kieraya Furnishing Solutions Pvt Ltd) was responsible for raising and managing fund – assisting founder in fund raise activity including, interacting with Private Equity, Venture Capital fund houses, financial/ legal due diligence, Shareholder agreements (SHA/SSA), managing cash runway and ensuring operating cash adequacy for smooth operations, and entire gamut of Finance, Legal & Secretarial function including AP, GL, revenue, audits, due diligences, taxation, treasury, legal agreements, compliances etc.Played a significant role in structuring a debt ($100M) and equity ($20M) deal from an offshore entity.
Prior to Furlenco, he was associated with Kalaari Capital as Vice President – his focus was to drive operational efficiency, financial controls/reporting, cash runway management, debt raise and M&A of portfolio companies.Played a significant role in of Fund 3 documentation and launch including a side fund and assisted in partial exits including Snapdeal and other companies.
Previously worked with Inmobi Technology Services as Global Financial Controller handled controllership function across the globe in 12 countries across 18 legal entities.Played a significant role in completion of audit, due diligence for funding of $ 200 Million, IFRS rollout in preparation of an IPO and Merger and Integrations 4 acquired companies.
Previously worked with CSC, ANZ Operations & Technology Pvt Ltd, Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd, Deloitte Haskins & Sells and M/s Sudhakar Pai Associated.
Chief Technology Officer
Moharana has over 25 years of experience building world-class products and platforms, and leading technology teams across multiple sectors like telecom, finance, healthcare, and agriculture. He has worked in various leadership roles in the domestic and international markets and has spent close to two decades in the US, building teams from the ground up in renowned start-ups.
Prior to joining Zuari FarmHub, he was the Head of Technology at DeHaat. Previously, Balaya has also been pivotal in bringing innovation to the Indian healthcare sector and co-founded a telehealth start-up. He remains a tech enthusiast and has successfully deployed wireless network intelligence solutions at telecom companies such as Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T.
Balaya Moharana graduated in Computer Science and Engineering from NIT Durgapur (1995). He grew up in a family with a very strong emphasis on academic excellence and achievements.
Business Head (Retail)
Anand Ron is the Business Head Retail with thirty years of work experience spanning Retail and Product based businesses. He is driving ideation, conceptualization and establishment of ‘Jai Kisaan Junctions’ the COCO Agri Retail chain venture of ZFHL. He has deep understanding of retail operations, B2B and B2C Sales, new business development strategies and implementation.
Successfully served with industry leaders like Godrej and Boyce, Singer India limited, Tata Ceramic & Style Spa furniture in leadership profiles with Profit Centre P&L management role-plays. Anand holds master’s degree in Applied Economics from Bangalore University and has attended several management and leadership development programs at prestigious institutions such IIM Bangalore.