Harshavardhan Neotia took over as the President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) at the conclusion of the Chamber’s 88th Annual General Meeting held in Delhi last week.

Neotia is the Chairman of Ambuja Neotia Group. Operating through several companies, the Ambuja Neotia Group covers the entire spectrum of the Real Estate industry including Housing, Hospitality, Health Care and Education.

He did his schooling in La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata and obtained B.Com (Hons.) from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. Subsequently he completed the Owner President Management Program (OPM) from the Harvard Business School, USA.

Neotia was conferred with ‘Padma Shri’ by the President of India in 1999. He is a Member on the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata and also a Member on the Society of Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong. He is on the Board of Shree Somnath Trust, Gujarat. Mr Neotia is the Honorary Consul of Israel in West Bengal.

Pankaj R. Patel is Chairman and Managing Director, Zydus Cadila - Cadila Healthcare Ltd. He brings with him over 35 years of professional experience and spearheads the affairs of Zydus Cadila.

Rashesh Shah is Chairman and CEO, Edelweiss Group. He has spent over 25 years in the corporate and financial markets sector and is one of the leading spokespersons for the industry.

Finance Asia, Hong Kong ranked Edelweiss as India’s Best Managed mid-cap company in 2013 and 2014. A regular commentator on macro- economic policies, development matters and financial markets in the mainline and financial media, Shah serves on the Boards of various companies and public institutions. He has previously been on the Executive Committee of the National Stock Exchange and also on the SEBI (Stock Exchange Board of India) committee to review Insider Trading Regulations. He currently serves as Chairman, Maharashtra Council of FICCI and is a part of the Directors Forum formed by corporate stalwarts under the aegis of the FICCI Center for Corporate Governance seeking to improve the quality of board-level governance in Indian industry. An MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Shah also holds a Diploma in International Trade from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi.