MR. MANISH GUPTA
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
MR. SUDEEP PAL
Chief Financial Officer
MR. RAJEEV KUMAR
Head – Human Resources and Training
MS. RITIKA SIKAND
General Manager – Marketing and Branding
MR. DEEPAK ARORA
GROUP MANAGER – QUALITY ASSURANCE
MR. NOSHIR SANJANA
GROUP MANAGER – SECURITY
Mr. Shekhar Mukherjee
GENERAL MANAGER – KOLKATA
MR. MEHERWAN KARANJIA
GENERAL MANAGER – MUMBAI
MR. SHASHI RANJAN SINHA
GENERAL MANAGER – DELHI
MR. VISHAL CHAUHAN
GENERAL MANAGER – BENGALURU
MR. Faisal Khan
General Manager – Chennai
MR. PROBAL DEY
General Manager – Goa
MR. PUNEET CHHATWAL Chairman
Mr. Mehernosh S. Kapadia Vice chairman
MR. GIRIDHAR SANJEEVI Director
MR. MANFRED SEAH DIRECTOR
MR. KERRY MOK Director
MS. GITA NAYYAR Independent Director
MR. SIANG HAN GOH DIRECTOR
Mr. Sudeep Pal is the Chief Financial Officer of TajSats. Prior to this, he successfully supervised all accounting and financial matters for an aviation venture of Taj Hotels, gaining extensive exposure to running and management of operations of air charter companies.
Mr. Pal has worked in the corporate sector in India for over 30 years and has accrued varied experience in finance and accounts functions across different companies. He started his career with Tata Tea Limited in Kolkata (now known as Tata Global Beverages) where he gained valuable exposure in internal audit, sales accounting, commercial finance, budgeting and control, financial reporting and compliance.
In 2005, he undertook a career shift and moved to Mumbai to work in Reliance Industries Limited in petroleum marketing in the Commercial Operation Department.
He has been working with Indian Hotels Company Limited (Taj Hotels) since 2009.
Mr Pal is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and has graduated from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata with B Com (Hons).
Mr. Rajeev Kumar has over 20 years of experience in Human Resources in the Hospitality sector wherein he has performed various roles. He started his career with IHCL in the year 2005 with Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi. He has also executed successful stints in other Taj hotels such as Taj Chandigarh, Taj Krishna Hyderabad and his last assignment was as an Area HR Director for Rajasthan hotels based at Rambagh Palace, Jaipur.
Mr. Kumar has exhibited excellence by way of building the execution strategy for key HR plans along with business heads and the corporate team. He has done benchmarking of HR indices with business in a competitive environment thereby building strong HR Processes for driving continuous improvement. In his new role as Head of TajSATS Human Resources and Training, he will report to the Chief Operating Officer, TajSATS.
Mr. Kumar holds a Ph.D. in Human Resources from Kurukshetra University and a Masters Degree in Human Resource Management from HP University, Shimla.
Ms. Ritika Sikand currently serves as General Manager — Marketing and Branding for TajSATS Air Catering Limited. Ms. Sikand has successfully led the rebranding initiative of TajSATS to strengthen the brand, target a broader audience and as a part of the ongoing evolution of brand TajSATS, in keeping with its position as a leading airline catering company. Her responsibilities include Marketing, Brand Management, Communications and Digital Marketing.
Ms. Sikand has over 14 years of experience in international (Europe) and national markets across various industries. She has diverse experience in various functions that include brand management, communications and product marketing to drive business and ecosystem growth. She holds a degree in Architecture and Marketing Management and has rich experience in Digital Marketing.
She started her career in QAI India Limited, a leading quality consulting company where she did a variety of roles across businesses in India and London. She has worked with leading organisations such as ERGO Group in Germany, Aditya Birla Retail Limited and Reliance Retail Limited.
Mr. Deepak Arora joined TajSATS Air Catering in 1983 as a Trainee Catering Assistant and has grown in the organisation with more than 36 years of experience across various functions such as Operations, Production, Airport Lounges and Human Resources where he played a key role as the Training Head during the HACCP and Quality and Food Safety Management System journey before moving on to Quality Assurance.
Mr. Arora is a British Standards Certified Lead auditor for FSMS ISO 22000:2005 and currently oversees Quality Assurance across the company, ensuring compliance to statutory as well as customer requirements.
He is a graduate from the Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai.
Mr. Shekhar Mukherjee is the General Manager of TajSATS Air Catering Kolkata, which caters to 12 International and Domestic Airlines. Under his watch, the Kolkata unit has expanded from catering for around 16 flights per day to an average of 205 flights per day. He has spent 23 out of 35 years with the group in its flight kitchen division, which saw the catering concept change drastically from Full Service Airline to include Low Cost Carriers. The TajSATS Kolkata unit was the first to adapt to the newly-launched “Buy on board” concept for Low Cost Carriers, one of which went on to become the predominant Domestic Carrier in the country.
Having completed Hotel Management from IHM Kolkata, Mr. Mukherjee joined the Taj Group of Hotels in Mumbai in 1984 and was posted at the Taj Flight Kitchen, Mumbai for a period of three years.
Over the next 12 years, Mr. Mukherjee's stints with the hotel division included the Taj Coromandel Hotel, Chennai, Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi, Taj Bengal, Kolkata and the Taj Hotel at Aurangabad. His stint in the Food & Beverages department at the Taj Hotel at Aurangabad was a different experience as the hotel was being managed mostly by the students from IHM — a hotel school managed by the Taj Group.
After a tenure of 12 years at the hotels, Mr. Mukherjee was back to TajSATS Air Catering at Mumbai in the Operations Department, by which time, the flight kitchen operations had undergone a sea change with the introduction of International standards and HACCP. International Airlines were pouring in after TajSATS' Mumbai and Delhi units won the Best Flight Kitchen Awards. After a short stint of three years, he moved to TajSATS Kolkata.
Mr. Meherwan Karanjia is currently the General Manager of TajSATS Air Catering Limited, Mumbai unit.
Mr. Karanjia has more than 25 years of operational experience in the airline catering industry. As a General Manager he is responsible for the strategic as well as daily operations ensuring that the highest level of food safety, hygiene and quality standards are maintained whilst providing inflight meals and meals for institutional catering requirements out of the Mumbai unit.
Mr. Karanjia has held numerous leadership positions in the organisation handling multiple responsibilities assigned to him in various key roles. As an Operations Manager, he was responsible for the operational requirements of airlines and has personally handled key airline accounts.
When handling the Production division, he was actively involved in production planning / scheduling and implementing various cost saving measures. He has been instrumental in starting and developing the institutional catering business portfolio of the Mumbai unit. He has been involved in various strategic and business development initiatives for the organisation and ensured smooth leadership changes in key departments of the unit.
Mr. Karanjia holds a Bachelors of Arts degree majoring in History and Economics from the Bombay University. He is also a Diploma Holder in the field of Travel and Tourism.
He firmly believes and lives by the company’s core values which are Excellence, Integrity, Trust and Teamwork, Respect and Concern for others, Innovation and Commitment to the Environment and the Community.
Mr. Shashi Ranjan Sinha joined TajSATS Air Catering which was then known as Taj Air Caterers in September 1991. As General Manager of the Delhi unit, besides overseeing the day-to-day operations, he provides leadership and strategic planning to all departments in support of TajSATS service culture, maximised operations and airline clients’ satisfaction.
Mr. Sinha has over 28 years of experience in operational and other aspects of flight kitchens and has held several senior leadership roles across the different flight kitchens of TajSATS.
Mr. Sinha holds a Bachelor degree in Hotel Management from IHMCTAN, Kolkata.
Mr. Vishal Chauhan is responsible for overseeing daily business activities, improving overall business functions, managing budgets, developing strategic plans and communicating business goals of TajSATS Bengaluru. He has 28 years of experience in the in-flight catering industry, all of which is with TajSATS — 17 years in the Mumbai unit and 11 years in the Bengaluru unit. With strong relationships and execution skills he handled various roles in the operations department before rising to the position of General Manager, Bengaluru unit.
Mr. Chauhan graduated with a Bachelor degree in Commerce from the University of Bombay.
Mr. Prakash Shirlekar is currently the Unit Head of TajSATS Air Catering Limited, Goa. He joined the Goa unit in 2008 and handled Security, Transport & Personal Relations with AAI Goa as well as charter flights. He was also overseeing Engineering and Operations at the time.
Mr. Shirlekar has over 22 years of work experience with the Taj Group of Hotels across various properties including Taj Fort Aguada Beach Resort, Taj Holiday Village, Taj Sheba, Sanaa, Yemen and Taj Residency, Aurangabad.
He has completed several professional courses and programs such as the TBEM (Tata Business Excellence Model) Business Excellence Champions Program conducted by TQMS, the Occupation Health and Safety Auditors Certificate Course from the National Safety Council in Mumbai and awareness trainings on Environmental Management System and ISO 14001:1996.
Mr. Shirlekar graduated with a Bachelor in Commerce degree from Mumbai University.
Mr. Probal Dey joined TajSATS in 1996 and has been responsible for flight handling in the Operations Department. Currently he is the Unit Manager of Taj Madras Flight Kitchen — a wholly-owned subsidiary of TajSATS.
Mr. Dey has around 24 years of experience in Flight Catering Operations and has held senior leadership roles in the department over the years.
After completing his Hotel Management degree, he started his career in Damania Airlines before joining TajSATS, bringing international experience with him, from his time with Emirates Flight Catering.
Mr. Puneet Chhatwal brings over three decades of leadership experience at highly-acclaimed hotel groups in Europe and North America. He joined IHCL in 2017 and spearheads the Company’s operations as its MD and CEO. Prior to this, Mr. Chhatwal was the Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Executive Board of Steigenberger Hotels AG – Deutsche Hospitality. He was also the Chief Development Officer of The Rezidor Hotel Group – Carlson Hotels Worldwide. Mr. Chhatwal is a graduate of both Delhi University and Institute of Hotel Management, Delhi. He has completed an MBA in Hospitality from ESSEC, Paris and an Advanced Management Program from INSEAD.
Mr. Chhatwal has won awards including the prestigious Carlson Fellowship and was rated as one of Europe’s 20 extraordinary minds in Sales, Marketing and Technology - HSMAI European Awards 2014. He was also the First Alumni included in the ESSEC-IMHI Hall of Honor 2014.
Mr. Mehernosh S. Kapadia has been associated with IHCL and various other Tata Companies for over four decades. His ability to anticipate and navigate future challenges has helped the company create long-term success. During his tenure at the house of Tata, he has undertaken multiple leadership roles liaising with Central and State Governments as well as Statutory Authorities. Being a board member on several other companies of the Tata Group he continues to work closely with senior leadership.
Mr. Giridhar Sanjeevi holds a senior position as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of IHCL. He has built a broad-based career over 30 years across multiple businesses - consumer businesses, financial services, retail and pharma in Asia and Europe. A Chartered Accountant and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, he has won several awards including Most Influential CFOs of India award from CIMA in 2015 and 2016 and CFO of the Year for Excellence in Finance in Managing a Turnaround from IMA, 2013.
Mr. Manfred Seah joined SATS as Chief Financial Officer in September 2017. He oversees the corporate finance, treasury and insurance, investor relations, and public affairs and branding functions of the Group.
Mr. Seah has over 25 years of investment banking, direct investments and operational management experience. He has held several senior leadership roles in corporate finance, investment management and has conducted corporate advisory and M&A activities in Asia.
Before joining SATS, Mr. Seah was the Chief Financial Officer of SMRT Corporation Ltd, where he was primarily responsible for driving changes to the business and financing structure of the Group. At SMRT, Mr. Seah led a special task force that developed and facilitated the transition of SMRT Trains Limited to the new rail financing framework, and managed the subsequent privatisation of SMRT by Temasek Holdings in 2016.
Before joining SATS, Mr. Seah was the Chief Financial Officer of SMRT Corporation Ltd, where he was primarily responsible for driving changes to the business and financing structure of the Group. At SMRT, Mr. Seah led a special task force that developed and facilitated the transition of SMRT Trains Limited to the new rail financing framework, and managed the subsequent privatisation of SMRT by Temasek Holdings in 2016.
Mr. Kerry Mok joined SATS as Executive Vice President, Food Solutions in June 2018. Prior to this, he was the CEO of YCH Group since August 2017.
Mr. Mok is a seasoned executive with more than two decades of experience in supply chain management and logistics; he has held various senior appointments prior to his move to YCH Group, including his role in Goodpack Limited as the acting Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Before that, he held the position of Managing Director, Strategy - Operations and was also head of the ASEAN Supply Chain Strategy practice for Accenture.
Mr. Mok was also previously Senior Vice President - Global Head of Technology Sector and APAC Technology Sector & Service Logistics with DHL, accountable for the strategy and growth of the Global Technology Sector for DHL Supply Chain.
He has been an active contributor to tripartite initiatives, having served on the Future Economy Council's Trade & Connectivity Sub-Committee, and on the Ministry of Communication and Information’s Infocomm Media Master Plan 2025 working group.
Mr. Mok graduated from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia with a Bachelor of Business, Accounting (First Class Honours).
Ms. Gita Nayyar is a senior finance professional with over 30 years of experience, including 21 years as a Senior Banker in UK and India. Ms. Nayyar has previously worked with Citigroup Global Corporate and Investment Bank and Credit Suisse Private Bank UK in leadership positions in the various fields including Corporate and Investment banking, Risk and Relationship management and Wealth management. She has worked closely with senior management in diverse client segments including: Start Ups, SMEs, Multinationals, large domestic Corporates and Financial Institutions.
Ms. Nayyar is currently engaged as a Senior Advisor to Fulcrum Ventures Ltd, a Venture capital fund that invests primarily in unlisted early stage pharmaceutical, healthcare and wellness companies. She serves on the board of Oriental Hotels Ltd, in addition to the board of TajSATS. She has also previously served on the board of a Wealth management and Securities trading company. Ms. Nayyar is a Member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management – Udaipur. She is also on the Advisory committee of Helpage – India, a large national NGO.
Ms. Nayyar is a very active and successful angel investor and mentors startups. She is recognised for her expertise in investing and building early stage companies and is often invited to lecture/share her views on the subject.
Ms. Nayyar is an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College USA and holds a B.A. Economics (Hons) degree from Jesus and Mary College Delhi.
