our team
of people

Sri started Milk Mantra in 2009 with the vision of creating an exciting, pure and healthy dairy products brand in India, whilst creating sustainable impact amongst network farmers - especially in Odisha.

He left a highly successful global corporate career in 2009 to pursue the Milk Mantra! Having spent 8 years with the TAS, group leadership resource of the Tata Group, he went on to become Director of Mergers & Acquisitions of the Tata Tea / Tetley business. With extensive experience in setting up new market operations, brand sales & marketing, joint ventures & M&A, Sri has worked in geographies across the world from China, to South Africa to UK & Europe. In 2012 Sri was nominated as a fellow of the India Leadership Initiative (ILI), a flagship program of The Aspen Institute, a global think-tank. In 2013, as part of the Aspen Institute he was invited to be part of the delegation of Track2 dialogue between India & Israel.

With 25+yrs of dairy sector experience, and previously heading production at Milk Mantra, Biswajeet is now Head Projects & Compliance. Biswajeet has been with Milk Mantra since start of its operations and seen the company grow to where it is today. His professional degrees include a B.Tech from Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT) and an M. Tech (Dairy & Food Engg.) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, and apprenticeship in Dairy plants in (the then) West Germany.Biswajeetwas previously with OMFED where he handled a wide portfolio - from Production & Maintenance in mid-sized to large Dairy Plants, including Milk Processing, Powder Processing, and Ice Cream Manufacturing. He knows his ISO & HACCP better than most in the field.

When he is not working, Biswajeet is the occasional cook, rustling up delicacies for his family and friends.

Sandipan Ghosh is Milk Mantra’s COO and brings with him two decades of scaling diverse food categories. From brand launches, market growth & dominance, he was most recently the Commercial & Marketing Director at Lactalis Group India and steered commercial and sales. Sandipan will drive MM 3.0 with pace and precision and will be at the forefront of all we moo. Sandipan loves to read books on management and has a keen interest in soccer and philately.

Shib has worked on global digital business transformation projects in supply chain, manufacturing, hi-tech, utility and BFSI and in his role as CIO he will be strengthening Milk Mantra’s TechStack across the entire value chain. He has previously worked at IBM, Mahindra, HP and Wipro. An MBA from Welingkar, Shib enjoys long road trips and thinking of the next big transformation in tech.

Prasanna has deep insight & proficiency to lead organisational scaling. With 15 years’ experience across all aspects of Human Resources especially HR Tech and people capability, he will be driving the HR function for MM 3.0. Prasanna joins us from Mankind Pharma where he had a tenured career spanning HR Ops across several verticals and countries and was most recently heading HR Tech for the group. An MBA from Utkal University, Prasanna likes to travel to new places to energise & rejuvenate himself. An avid learner, he enjoys reading a repertoire of books and journals.

With 30 years of deep experience as Business Unit Head in Fmcg operations including global markets of Middle East and Africa, Amitava is Milk Mantra’s Chief Operating Officer.

Of a different vintage(!), Amitava brings his distinct wisdom and energy to heading the cross functional team of Sourcing, Quality & NPD, Production, HR and Sales & Marketing. He has an inclusive understanding of balancing strategic Capability Building with a sharp focus on sales and operations; executed with an infectious energy.

Graduating from Sydenham College, Mumbai and an MBA from International Management Institute, New Delhi, Amitava had a successful career spanning 24 years at Britannia, where notably, he initiated and spearheaded the Dairy and International businesses and headed national sales for the flagship bakery division. He subsequently moved to Mother Dairy as the Business Head for Milk.

Amitava is an avid reader, with a penchant for witticisms that bring energy and smiles to the workplace around him.

With a keen eye for detail, Debasish heads the Finance & Accounts function at Milk Mantra. His extensive experience of 21years’ coveringareas of Factory Accounting, Branch Commercials, Corporate Accounting and Budgeting & Costing compliments his ability to challenge not just himself but those around him towards excellence.

He was most recently with Spencer’s, where he handled the entire gamut of finance & accounts, and prior to that was with Perfetti Van Melle and was a part of the team setting up greenfield operations for the company in Bangladesh. He has done his post-graduation in Finance and Accounting from the Institute of Cost Accounts of India and has a keen interest in arts & culture.

At Milk Mantra, Rashima heads the role of Brand Development devising and implementing brand architecture framework and its portfolio for the growing 'little company'.

She has earlier worked in India, South Africa and London in areas of Employment Law, Organization Structure, Recruitment and Employee Relations. Degrees include B Com from Jadavpur University and an MBA from XIMB.

With his experience of working with large teams and ‘making things happen’ Kailash is Milk Mantra’s Chief Growth Enabler heading production,sourcing and supply chain operations. He has 25 years’ experience in leadership, business strategy & operations traversing all functions including sales, marketing, manufacturing, corporate and P&L ownership across sectors like dairy, telecom, rural services and FMCG. He has led & established Amul in Delhi and built the foundation for the success of the brand in a highly competitive market. He was the CEO of Nirya’s Food Products, which he set up from scratch. Kailash graduated from Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, and did his post-graduation from Institute of Rural Management, Anand. He has an active interest in Table Tennnis, Cricket and socio-environmental issues.

Sakthivel joins Milk Mantra after 20 years of working in all areas of milk procurement at organisations like Glaxosmithkline and Mother Dairy. This all rounder has a Veterinary Science degree, a law degree and a MBA degree from Australia. Deepened with this experience, Sakthivel knows everything there is about cows, milk and farmers and the nuances of an extensive supply chain - and is now heading our Sourcing function. Building on our established Ethical Milk Sourcing and working to take it to a wider moo-scape is what drives Sakthivel.

He is also a multitalented sportsman and an avid chess player who has represented Tamil Nadu at the state championships - so when he has a moment away from milk - you know how to engage with him!

Biswajit was formerly CFO at Aussie Oats based in Sri Lanka and brings to Milk Mantra, his 20+ years of experience in all aspects of financial management, expertise of leveraging vital business drivers and driving collaborative growth. With a passion for learning, Biswajit has consistently been expanding his learning repertoire and has multidemnsional skills making him adept at both financial expertise and strong business acumen. He has also held leadership positions at Parag Milk, Creamline Dairy, PKF and others. A CA,CIMA,CGMA, Biswajit has also done certified programs from IIM-C, IIT Roorkee & Univ of Oxford. He has a keen interest in cricket and travelling.

Aditya brings his own special flair and energy in to the people function at Milk Mantra.

Backed with 18 years of experience in Human Resources, Organizational Development and Administration function, both at Corporate and Plant level, he has worked with leading companies like PCS Technologies, Network Solutions(an IBM Company), HCL Technologies and Sakata Inx and was responsible for HR operations support.

He holds Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management from XISS(Ranchi) and B. Com from Utkal University. He also holds specialized certifications in OD, L & D and Psychometric Testing.

Subhendu brings a sharper focus to all financial processes and accounts at Milk Mantra.

With over 21 years as finance professional in FMCG, trading/SCM, agri-commodity MNCs & consulting in India & Europe, he has been in CFO position for last 7 years.

He has domain expertise in developing business strategy, business plan, providing CFO services which are typically funded by PE/vcs, conversant with IFRS, US/Singapore/EU/Indian GAAP, risk management, cash flow planning, CMS, Treasury, statutory compliances, internal & external audit (including transfer pricing in India/EU), Capex proposals & IRR.He has specialties of managing large team sizes, business process reengineering (BPR), financial value chain in FMCG, ERP, MIS & IT, handling pressure situations with ease and converting adversity to opportunities.

Janaviis the Aavishkaar nominee director at Milk Mantra. She is an Investment Manager with Aavishkaar Capital (Venture Capital arm of the Aavishkaar Group), where she works closely to build and manage Aavishkaar’s portfolio companies. With her experience across Consumer, Healthcare and Automotive sectors, Janavi brings expertise in general management, finance and investment management. She holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from SIBM and is an Engineer from Mumbai University.

Aditya is an Eight Roads Ventures (the proprietary investment arm of Fidelity International Limited) nominee director at Milk Mantra and brings with hima broad focus on technology, consumer, financial services and logistics. Prior to Eight Roads, Aditya had worked as an Investment Professional at Peepul Capital, Warburg Pincus LLC and as an analyst at Goldman Sachs. Aditya holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) and a Bachelors degree in Engineering from the IIT Madras.

Suresh is the Independent Director at Milk Mantra. With over 36 years of experience, he joined Wipro in 1980 after a stint with Lovelock and Lewis (PwC) and headed the finance function of the largest factory then in Wipro in Maharashtra.

He was awarded “CFO of the Year” by IMA (an associate of Economist Corporate Network) in association with American Express in 2002. he was awarded the Best CFO award for IT /ITES sector by CNBC-TV 18 in 2006. Under his leadership, the Investor Relations function, won the International Alexander Hamilton Award for excellence in Investor Relations in the year 1999.

Prem Pavoor is an Eight Roads Ventures (the proprietary investment arm of Fidelity International Limited) nominee director at Milk Mantra. With over 15 years of experience in management consulting, engineering consulting and technology research, both in the United States and in India, Prem currently is a Partner at Eight Roads Ventures India.

He was previously based in the United States with McKinsey & Company’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Products Practice in New Jersey where he advised clients on areas that included R&D, business development, manufacturing optimization and post-merger integrations. Prem holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly UDCT), Mumbai, a MS and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering Practice from MIT and an MBA from MIT Sloan.

Vineet is the Aavishkaar nominee director at Milk Mantra. With 20 years of experience in investment Vineet is the founder and managing partner of the investment team at Aavishkaar Group.
He founded and Intellecap as two distinct entities to see n how business can play a role in impacting lives of the people from lower strata and how to use capital and talent to influence business.
Vineet is currently the CEO of Aavishkaar Capital, Co-Founder of Intellecap and Chairman of Aavishkaar Group. Previously he has also been the Founder Board member and Ex-Chairman of Vilgro Innovations Foundation – an NGO to fund & incubate early-stage, innovation-based, for-profit social enterprises that have an impact on the lives of underprivileged. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Management from IIFM.

Akshay is the Director at Neev Fund and has been actively involved in the investments in Milk Mantra. His role has been to identify, evaluate, structure, negotiate and execute investments for the fund. Akshay also plays a key role in stakeholder management, investor interaction and handling multiple fund related activities.

He has long years of experience in Private Equity, Principal Investments & Advisory experience spanning start- ups, early stage businesses, growth investments and control/buyout transactions. His investing experience includes being part the investment teams at the US$1Bn India Infrastructure Fund and the CapAleph Private Equity Fund. Akshay has also worked with leading global and Indian infrastructure developers and has led & executed investments across the infrastructure space.Akshay holds a PGDM from IIM Lucknow and a Bachelor of Commerce from Bangalore University.

Professor, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. Dr. Aggarwal is well known as the foremost name in the field of Curcumin research, especially in the context of the anti-cancer properties of curcumin. He is a key member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the McCormick Science Institute.

His degrees include PhD in Biochemistry, University of Berkeley, MS in Biochemistry, BHU, Varanasi, BS, Biochemistry, University of Delhi.

Dr.Aggarwal is advising and working closely with Milk Mantra to develop India’s first functional dairy drink.

Robert Jenkins is a seasoned private equity professional and angel investor, with a keen interest in emerging markets. A pioneer in the PE space in UK, he continues to be a Director at Bridgepoint, one of Europe’s leading mid market PE firms, whilst being involved with several ventures like Jacana, www.anywhere.me. He has a MSc from SOAS and a MBA from Manchester Business School.

Robert is also an Investor in Milk Mantra.

Shantanu is a one-time diplomat turned venture investor and advisor to start-ups, while working on ideas to improve political systems and governance in India.

He has worked across geographies and industries, including several years in Japan and in the UK. Until recently a Partner at venture capital firm in London, Shantanu has also worked at Monitor Co. in London. He was a fast-track career diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service, working in New Delhi and Tokyo.

Degrees include Computer Engineering, Chevening Scholar MBA from London Business School.

Anil has been associated with Milk Mantra since it's inception and has a deep understanding of our sourcing and processing functions. He is also on Milk Mantra's Advisory Board and has spent 15 years in the Dairy & Food Processing industry in India with leading global companies like Alfa Laval and Tetra Pak.

By qualification Anil is a Dairy Technologist from Gujrat Agriculture University and has also done an M.Sc in Food Technology. His degrees include CFTRI, PGDM in Dairy Plant Management from National Dairy Research Institute, India’s premier Dairy research centre.