About Us

Key Milestones
People

One of India’s fast-growing and diverse financial services groups, Centrum has been serving the financial and advisory needs of institutions and individuals for two and a half decades.

Our Institutional services include Investment Banking and Broking to FIIs, Pension Funds, Indian Mutual Funds, Domestic Institutions etc. We also provide Wealth Management Services to HNIs and Family Offices, Affordable Housing finance in tier 2 & 3 cities and Retail Broking services. Our Asset Management business has funds across Private Debt and Venture Capital.

We have been providing MSME Loans and Micro finance for a few years. With these businesses now merged into Unity Small Finance Bank, our most recent venture, they are expected to scale up substantially. We are a PAN India Group with a strong leadership team of seasoned professionals with a successful track record, operating out of 140+ cities and with an international presence in Singapore.

Key Milestones

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Founders and Promoters

Late. K. Byramjee

Founder

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Khushrooh Byramjee a CA from UK, was a man of great integrity who had an unerring knack of overcoming challenges.

Chandir Gidwani

Founder & Chairman Emeritus

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A distinguished first generation entrepreneur. As the Founder of the company, he has set up a robust platform that offers integrated financial services for Institutions as well as Individuals. He has contributed greatly to building a strong reputation and goodwill for the Group and built a highly experienced and competent management team, which is poised to lead Centrum into a high growth trajectory. An astute investor with a vision of identifying businesses that have immense growth potential. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant

Jaspal Bindra

Executive Chairman

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A veteran Banker with a successful global MNC career spanning over three decades. He has held coveted positions across MNC Banks such as Standard Chartered, UBS and Bank of America and has an impeccable track record of leading large banks, driving profitable growth, Mergers, Acquisitions, Turnarounds and the list goes on. He has played a key role in transitioning the Centrum Group, from a pure play financial advisory business to becoming a diversified financial services group. His present focus is on steering Centrum’s Banking venture - Unity Bank into a New Age Digital First Bank.

Board of Directors

Chandir Gidwani

Founder & Chairman Emeritus

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Jaspal Bindra

Executive Chairman

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Mahakhurshid Byramjee

Non-Executive Director

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Mrs. Mahakhurshid Byramjee is a prominent businesswoman. Realty development, especially developing housing projects is her passion. She is an entrepreneur in her own right. She has been in the construction business for over a decade. Besides managing the construction business, she is also involved in the family business of shipping, transportation, equipment handling, port related activities & logistics.

Rishad Byramjee

Non-Executive Director

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Mr. Rishad Byramjee is the Managing Director of the Casby Logistics Group of Companies since 2003. Established in 1857, the company is a market leader in stevedoring activities India. Prior to taking on his current post, Rishad was actively involved in the Operations of the family business. In 2002 he gained a Master of Science degree with a specialization in Logistics and Supply Chain from the UK.

Under his leadership, the company expanded its Logistics operations from a regional scale to a pan-India scale within the business verticals of Air, Sea, Surface and Rail Cargo movement. Rishad's contemporary management style combined with the family values on which the company was built have influenced steady growth in the face of adversity and global slowdowns.

He leads the diversification and expansion program at Casby and has successfully initiated new businesses such as Solution Design, Warehousing and Refrigerated . He is also involved in the growth of the other Group offerings that include Construction & Real Estate development, Digital Security & Surveillance, telecommunications and Software Development.

K R Kamath

Non-Executive Director

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Mr. Ramchandra Kasargod Kamath started his career in Corporation Bank as an Officer Trainee in 1977. He has been the Chairman of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and Governing Board of Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). He has also been the President of Indian Institute of Banking & Finance (IIBF) and Bankers’ Club, Delhi. He has been the member of Governing Board of National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM), Pune and Governing Council of Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), Hyderabad. During his career Mr. Kamath is known for his conceptual clarity, insight, communication skills and ability to build result oriented teams.

Mr. Kamath has led initiatives for promoting sound and efficient corporate governance practices where ever he worked. Mr. Kamath has been the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Punjab National Bank ( PNB ) and has been successful in changing the public perception about PNB and improving rankings of the Bank on various prestigious platforms is evidence to the fact. Under the leadership of Mr. Kamath, PNB’s rank improved from 186th to 175th in The Banker’s Top 1000 Banks of the World. Prior to moving to PNB, Mr. Kamath was CMD of Allahabad Bank and Executive Director of Bank of India.

Mr. Kamath was also the Chairman of PNB Housing Finance where he played a key role in divestment of PNB’s stake and making PNBHF the first successful PPP in the financial services space during his tenure growing 6x in 4.5 years to become the largest unlisted housing finance company in the country.

Anjali Seth

Non-Executive Independent Director

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Ms. Anjali Seth has over 25 years’ experience as a professional lawyer advising and consulting with Banks, Financial Institutions, and large corporates.

She started her career as a litigation lawyer and then moved to the corporate sector. She has advised and consulted on a range of matters including M&As, Private Equity (PE) Investments, Stressed Assets, Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), recovery matters, Industrial/Employee Relations, Corporate Governance, Real Estate Negotiations, etc.

She has been associated in various positions with International Finance Corporation, Swaadhar Finserve, ANZ Grindlays Bank, Emmar Properties and Standard Chartered Bank.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in law from University of Delhi and a bachelor’s degree in arts (honours) from Meerut University.

Manmohan Shetty

Non-Executive Independent Director

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Mr. Manmohan Shetty is a Founder of Adlab Films Ltd., one of the largest entertainment corporation of India. He is currently a director of ADLABS Entertainment Ltd, Thrill Park Limited, Walkwater Media Limited among others. He is one of the most significant people in Indian Entertainment economy today and is seen as one of the key visionaries in the industry. He is currently a Council member of Film & Television Producers Guild of India. He has established India’s first and World’s largest IMAX dome theatre. He has held key position in media & entertainment focused government bodies & Federation including Ex-Chairman of National Film Development Corporation.

NVP Tendulkar

Non-Executive Independent Director

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Mr. Narayan has 37 years of experience in Finance, General Management & Operations in IT, Telecom, Manufacturing industries with American & European based multinational organizations & Tata Group (International business & Operations) with ability to resolve successfully multi-dimensional, dynamic & challenging issues of the Companies. He has successfully completed the program ‘HP Becoming a Business Partner: The CFO Mindset’ from The Wharton School in March 2006. He is also a qualified Company Secretary and Chartered Accountant.

Subhash Gundappa Kutte

Non-Executive Independent Director

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Mr. Subhash Kutte has been a Banker through out his life. He had joined Ratnakar Bank in June 1980 and served the bank for thirty-four years, initially in an executive capacity across various departments, including MD & CEO, and in the last four years as its non-executive Chairman. He retired as the Chairman of Ratnakar Bank Ltd. in the year 2014. He is presently working as a “Senior Advisor” for the said Bank.

During his stewardship the Bank has overcome enormous challenges which included the raising of Capital funds to the tune of 300 crores. He has an experience of four decades in the field of banking. He holds a bachelor's degree in commerce. Mr. Kutte is also a Director on the Board of Ghatge Patil Industries Ltd. since the year 2014.

S.K Mitra

Non-Executive Independent Director

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Mr. S.K Mitra joins our board with over 40 years of experience in the financial industry. He has held roles in companies such as Standard Chartered, American Express and the Aditya Birla Group, operating across functions such as investment banking, asset management and financial services.

Rajesh Srivastava

Non-Executive Director

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Rajesh Srivastava is the Executive Chairman of Rabo Equity Advisors, managing Rabobank sponsored private equity funds (AUM US$270mln), both focused on food and agribusiness. The Funds have blue chip investors like Rabobank; IFC; CDC Group, UK; Asian Development Bank; Generali Insurance, Italy; FMO; Proparco, France; IFU, Denmark amongst their investors. He has so far closed 16 investments, all in different sub-sectors and has made 5 profitable exits.

Before setting up the private equity business, he was Managing Director (Corporate & Commercial Banking) of Rabobank India. Concurrently, he was Regional Head, Asia for food and agribusiness for over 5 years based in Singapore. In Rabobank, he is credited with setting up several new products such as Strategic Advisory, Renewable Energy, Carbon Credits and Micro Finance. Before Rabobank, he was with Lazard Brothers’ Venture Capital arm where he set up the largest VC Fund of the time for SMEs. Starting his career with Bank of Baroda, he has over 37 years of experience in corporate and investment banking.

Rajesh is regarded as “go to” resource on creative policy and finance solutions in agriculture and food processing. He is regarded as a pioneer in establishing a private equity market for food and agribusiness sector and for advocacy on policies on agriculture/food processing. Amongst others, he sits on the CII National Committees on Agriculture & Allied Sectors, Food Processing, and co-chairs the CII National Committee on PE/VC. He also sits on the Board of Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation.>

R A Sankara Narayanan

Non-Executive Independent Director

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Mr. R. A. Sankara Narayanan, aged 60 years, holds a post-graduate degree in Public
Administration and has also done MBA in Finance, CAIIB, PGDPM, PGDFM, DTIRM, DCP
and BRM. During his reign as Executive Director of Bank of India starting from May 2015, he
handled the treasury, corporate credit, recovery, risk management and compliance
departments. He was also in-charge of the department’s namely international banking, retail,
HR, IT, planning and finance. He was appointed as Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer of Vijaya Bank in September 2017. He had been designated as the MD and
CEO of Canara Bank w.e.f. April 1, 2019 till his superannuation in January, 2020. Mr. R A
Sankara Narayanan has been on the Board of the South Indian Bank India Limited since
October 15, 2020.

Essaji Vahanvati

Non-Executive Independent Director

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Mr. Essaji Vahanvati graduated with a B.A. LLB. (Hons.) degree from the Government Law College, Mumbai. He started his career in AZB & Partners (erstwhile CZB & Partners) directly after graduation, in 2003. He was elevated to partner in 2009 and continued with AZB until 2015.

At AZB, his focus was private equity and mergers and acquisition (with a special focus on public market transactions, takeover offers and delisting). He has worked for marquee private equity firms including Blackstone, Warburg Pincus, Temasek, KKR, CVCI and Apax. During his time with AZB, he has also led commercial litigation and arbitrations, as well as strategic and regulatory advise for various banks including, notably, HSBC and HDFC Bank. He also handled complex mergers and demergers.

After AZB, he has focused primarily on distressed debt, restructurings and litigation. He has worked extensively for the GTL group and recently assisted with the debt restructuring exercise undertaken by the Suzlon Group. He has also advised family offices including the Patni Family group and the Gupta Family group. As part of his independent practise, He has handled and spearheaded several commercial and regulatory litigations before the Delhi High Court, Mumbai High Court, Chennai High Court and the Supreme Court of India.

He has been recognized as a leading individual by Chambers & Partners and the RSG Law Firm Report for India. He is the Founding Partner of Ramanathan and Vahanvati, boutique legal consulting firm.

Business Leadership

Nischal Maheshwari

Institutional Equities

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Nischal comes with over 20+ years of rich experience focused on Institutional Equities, having handled both the Research and Sales function for the Institutional Broking business, Investment Banking , Portfolio Management Services ,etc.

Nischal moves to Centrum after a long and successful stint as Head of Institutional Equities at Edelweiss Securities Ltd., where he led the large institutional business and equity research team of over 200 in Asia. He was instrumental in taking Edelweiss to the top spot in the Institutional Broking space. He has strong corporate relationships and is well networked in the equity markets and industry, having leveraged his relationships for closing Investment Banking deals as well, at Edelweiss.

Rajendra Naik

Investment Banking

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Rajendra has over 25 years of experience across multiple market cycles in Equity Capital Markets, Corporate Finance, Debt Structuring and Placements and Project Finance. He is a member of the team that founded the Centrum Group in 1996.

A Commerce Graduate, Rajendra has completed his Masters in Management Studies (MMS) from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai

Initial Public Offer for Canara Bank Rs 3850 mn
Initial Public Offer for DB Corp Rs 3842 mn
Initial Public Offer for Adlabs Entertainment Rs 3750 mn
Initial Public Offer for Union Bank Rs 2880 mn
Initial Public Offer for Uco Bank Rs 2400 mn
Qualified Institutional Placement of Indiabulls Financial Services Rs 12,820 mn
Qualified Institutional Placement of Syndicate Bank Rs 11,500 mn
Follow-on Public Offer for Allahabad Bank Rs 8,200 mn
Follow-on Public Offer for Punjab National Bank Rs 31,200 mn
Right Issue for Godrej Consumer Rs 3968 mn
Right Issue for Jyoti Structures Limited Rs 3,694 mn
Buy Back of Deccan Chronicle Rs 3500 mn
Bond Placement of IDBI Rs 41,500 mn
Sale of Adlabs Film Exhibition business to Reliance ADAG Rs 7,000 mn

Ranjan Ghosh

Banking

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Ranjan has close to 25 years of rich experience in the Banking & Financial Service Industry. He brings a wide array of professional and industry contacts, a deep understanding of Risk Management and Financial Markets and international best practices in Governance, Human Resources, etc.

Ranjan joins us from Standard Chartered Bank where he was the Global Head of Commercial Banks, Securities & Asset Financing sector and was responsible for the P&L of the bank’s Wholesale Banking franchise. He has held several Senior Management roles in Standard Chartered in India and Singapore. He was also associated with HSBC and CRISIL.

Ranjan has done his Masters of Business Administration from The University of Northern Iowa - USA and Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

Sandeep Upadhyay

Infrastructure Advisory

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Sandeep Upadhyay joined Centrum Capital Limited in June 2008 and is currently serving as Managing Director of Infrastructure Practise at Centrum Capital Limited. As a senior Coverage Banker he is responsible for covering the Stressed asset resolution apart from leading Investment Banking initiatives across core sectors like Transportation, Logistics, Energy & Utilities space.

He is an alumnus from XLRI, Jamshedpur besides holding a Post Graduate Degree in Project Management specialising in Infrastructure sector alongwith a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Gujarat University. He has over sixteen years of extensive experience in raising Private Equity, Project Finance and advising Government & established private sector clients on M&A, Stressed asset resolution and Bidding initiatives.

Prior to Centrum, he worked with SBI Capital Markets and with IL&FS Group in financial advisory and fund raising domain on marquee Infrastructure Projects.

Sanjay Shukla

Housing Finance

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Sanjay has close to 25 years of rich experience in Financial Services that includes setting up of Housing Finance Companies and launch of Retail Banking business in newer geographies. He brings a wide array of professional and industry contacts, a deep understanding of Housing Finance, Consumer Finance, Retail Banking, Treasury Management, Internal Audit, etc.

Sanjay joins us from CentBank Home Finance Limited where he was the Managing Director and was responsible for the P&L of the Housing Finance Business. He has successfully transformed its business, delivered superior results to shareholders, built a high performing team, increased market share and profitability.

He has also worked with organization like ING Vysya Bank, Tata Capital Housing Finance Limited, Citi Bank and Hometrust Housing Finance Limited which was later merged into HDFC Limited.

Sanjay has done his Chartered Accountancy from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Graduation from Christ Church College, Kanpur University.

Rakshat Kapoor

Private Debt

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Rakshat Kapoor has over 18 years of experience in structured credit. Prior to joining Centrum, he was with Nomura Securities, Deutsche Bank’s structured credit investments and ICICI Bank’s structured finance team. Rakshat received his Chartered Accountancy from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from Delhi University.

Kapil Bagla

Credit Syndication, Debt restructuring and Advisory

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Kapil has more than 27 years of diverse experience in leadership positions across industries such as Financial Services & Media & Entertainment. He has worked in areas of Investment Banking, Corporate Advisory, Debt Capital Markets, Project Financing, Investment Management, Venture/ PE Investments, Business Management, Strategic and Project Planning and Finance. In his last assignment, he was managing the Family Office investments for the promoters of the Centrum Group.

As the erstwhile CEO of Adlabs Entertainment Ltd, Kapil was instrumental in creation of Adlabs Imagica – India’s first premier theme park destination. He was responsible for business management, strategic planning, project implementation, general management and corporate finance. He continues to serve on the Board of Adlabs. Prior to joining Adlabs Entertainment Limited he was working with Adlabs Films Limited as the Corporate Head – Strategic Planning and Acquisitions and Centrum Capital Limited as an Executive Director.

Kapil holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Master’s degree in Management Studies with specialization in Finance.

Sandeep Nayak

Retail Broking

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Sandeep has over two decades of experience in capital markets covering Wealth Management, Equity Broking, Private Client Services, Portfolio Management and Distribution. He has previously worked with Kotak Securities and HSBC. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Cost Accountant.

Inderjit Camotra

Banking

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Inderjit is a Senior Banker with over 25 years of experience across India in leadership positions at Standard Chartered Bank, ANZ and Citibank. He graduated from I.I.T. Delhi and pursued his MBA from Clarkson University in New York. A Gold Medalist (Nagaland Education Board), he was earlier Executive Director with Centrum Financial Services Ltd.(Promoter Entity of Unity Bank), and has played a key role in transitioning the Company into a Bank.

Corporate Resources

Deepa Poncha

Human Resources

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A senior Human Resources professional with over 22 years of work experience across a breadth of functions within the Human Resources field, Deepa has held H R leadership positions across leading domestic and international Companies.

Raji Vishwanathan

Legal, Compliance & Secretarial

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Raji has over 33 years of experience, of which she has spent 16 years with Larsen & Tubro. Her last assignment was with L & T Financial Services where in she was serving as Group General Counsel. Additonially, through her career she has worked with Batliboi Environmental Engineering Ltd. and Brittania Industries. Raji has completed her Bachelor in Science – Micro Biology, Diploma in Business Management and Masters in Constitutional Law & International Law.

Shailendra Apte

Strategic Initiatives

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Shailendra has been associated with the Group since inception, and has played a vital role in its growth and expansion. As part of Chairman’s office, over the years he has been directly associated with each one of our businesses and also has a deep understanding of the nuances of each. He has also helped structure our new ventures and always played an important role in their launches etc.

Sriram Venkatasubramanian

Finance

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Sriram Venkatasubramanian holds an engineering degree from BITS, Pilani and a PGDM from IIM, Bangalore. He has about 22 years of experience in Financial Services, Corporate Finance and IT.
He has been with Centrum Group for about 12 years in multiple roles spanning Business, Strategy and Operations for Capital Markets, Wealth Management and lending, Prior to Centrum, he has worked as the country manager of Aptuit Informatics, a software product company, Vice President in Esaar Group where he worked on Acquisitions and Financing.

Sushen Jhingan

Business Development & Strategic Initiatives

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Sushen has close to 25 years of rich experience largely in the Banking & Financial Service Industry. He has held a number of senior roles in Standard Chartered Bank, across Strategy and Governance, Public policy and advocacy, Sustainability , Strategic Sourcing and Vendor Management, Corporate Real Estate, Project Management and Operations. Sushen has completed Executive Leadership Program from Oxford and INSEAD post his Master’s degree.