Mr. Ashish Dikshit, 53, is currently the Managing Director of Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Limited (ABFRL), India’s largest pure play fashion company. Ashish has worked in diverse roles across industries and functions over his career spanning more than 30 years.
Ashish started his career at Asian Paints and spent initial years in Sales & Distribution across the country before moving to Madura Garments, where he worked across multiple functions ranging from Sales, Brand Management, Supply Chain and Sourcing.
He then moved to the corporate office of Aditya Birla Group where he served as the Principal Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Group. In this assignment, Ashish built strong knowledge across Group’s various businesses in multiple industry sectors ranging from metals, cement, financial services, telecom, textile and several others, both in India & overseas, assisting Chairman in strategic oversight over these businesses and participating in some of the largest M&A transactions of the Group.
Ashish was appointed President of Lifestyle Brands of Group’s apparel business in 2007 and went on to become the CEO of its branded division, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle in 2012. He took over as the Managing Director of ABFRL in Feb 2018 and has led company’s rapid transformation through diversification into new business segments, category extensions & market segments to build it into the most comprehensive branded fashion company in the country. Under his leadership, the company has forged partnerships with leading International brands and has forayed into Indian ethnic wear market through joint ventures with some of the most iconic Indian designers to build an unrivalled portfolio of fashion brands across price points, consumer segments and usage occasions.
Ashish is an Electrical & Electronics Engineer from IIT - Madras and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from IIM – Bangalore. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School through its Advanced Management Program.
Ashish is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Madras. He was also awarded the Outstanding Leader Award by the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group.
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Dr. Sumeet Kumar Jarangal, an M.B.B.S. from Govt. Medical College, J&K University is an IAS officer of 2009 batch of Punjab Cadre and is serving as 'Director (Startup India)' in the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
He has held various notable positions such as Deputy Commissioner of Sri Muktsar Sahib & Rupnagar, Managing Director of Punjab Small Industries & Export Corporation, Special Secretary of Health, Additional Chief Executive Officer of Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion and Director of Public Relations & CEO at PEDA.
Dr. Jarangal is committed to bring reforms to his departments to enhance their efficiency and responsiveness to the contemporary needs. His achievements and work ethic have inspired youth in the region. Throughout his tenure in district administration, he has introduced and ensured the success of numerous citizen centric initiatives, especially through maintaining law and order at these locations. Through his role as Managing Director of PSIEC, he has been instrumental in bringing investor friendly reforms.
Recognising and understanding the needs of the businesses, he has brought plug and play infrastructure for the industries in various parts of the State to help them grow.
Currently, he is focused on the growth and promotion of industries in the country and on the implementation of the National Logistics Policy and the Startup India Programme.
Dr. Jarangal is also an avid sportsperson and is particularly passionate about tennis and cricket.
In the educational landscape, he aspires to make FDDI a notable international training institute by providing skill-based training in the area of footwear, leather and products, fashion & retail sector and fostering innovation to support the Start-up initiative and in fulfilling the goals of 'Vocal for Local', 'Make in India' and 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.
Col. Pankaj Kumar Sinha has joined the Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI) as ‘Secretary’ from 06th April 2023.
An alumnus of Sainik School Tilaiya, and a graduate from Hansraj College, University of Delhi, Col. Sinha completed his training from the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun and got Commissioned in Electronic and Mechanical Engineer Corps in 1997.
His professional qualification is B. Tech., M. Tech. and have done Diploma in HR and PGDM (FM) from NIFM (Faridabad).
He is an associate member of the Institution of Engineers (India) and also a Chartered Engineer (India).
Col. Sinha has served the Indian Army in various capacities and tenanted appointments across the country. As GM (Works) at base Workshop, was instrumental in planning and development of Infra of the production unit, finances, machine, manpower, overhaul receipt of dispatch of equipments.
He has also performed as ‘Instructor’ at Technical Staff Course where officers of the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy were imparted Middle level training to equip them for their career progression and step into higher management. Owing to his significant contribution, Col. Sinha was awarded commendation by “Chief of Integrated Staff Committee’ (CISC) of Integrated Defense Staff under the Ministry of Defense.
He has been an avid sportsman and plays Tennis, Football, Squash, Badminton and Golf. Prior to joining FDDI, Col. Sinha was Joint Director (Asset and Account Management) at Regional Center, ECHS, Patna.
Having wide exposure in the field of HR, Finance and Administration, Col. Sinha has broader integrated vision to make FDDI a vibrant and best hub of ‘Global Skill Learning Centre’ in the field of Footwear, Leather, Retail, Fashion & Management.
His wife, Mrs. Babita Sinha is a Registered Counsellor of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and working as Academic Coordinator in school.
Ms. Pragya Singh, IRS has joined the Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI), Chandigarh (Banur) campus as ‘Executive Director’ from 16th March 2023.
She is an officer of the 2010 batch of IRS (IT) who has served in various capacities during her tenure. After completing her training at NADT - Nagpur, she has been posted in and around Chandigarh for the last 10 years.
During this time, she has gained extensive experience in different profiles like Income Tax Assessment, General Administration, Vigilance, TDS and in Exemptions vertical of the Income Tax Department.
Ms. Pragya Singh having a Master's degree in Geography and Masters in Taxation and Business Law has grand visions and pragmatic ideas about making FDDI, as one of the best international skill learning centre in the field of Footwear, Leather, Fashion & Retail Management.
Dr. Narasimhugari Tej Lohit Reddy, IAS has joined the Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI), Hyderabad campus as ‘Executive Director’ from 23rd August 2023.
Dr. Narasimhugari TL Reddy is a medical doctor by qualification with a MBBS degree from the prestigious Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad.
He belongs to the 2013 batch of Indian Administrative Service of Kerala Cadre.
He has served for 10 years in various positions in Government of Kerala before joining FDDI.
After completing training as Assistant Collector in Kottayam district of Kerala, he worked as Sub Collector in Idukki District, Secretary to Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, Director Food and Civil Supplies Department, Registrar of Cooperatives, District Collector Pathanamthitta and District Collector Kozhikode.
He is excited to join FDDI and desires to take it to greater heights with support of faculty, staff and its bright students.
Mr. Anil Kumar has joined the FDDI, Jodhpur campus as Executive Director from 26th October 2023. Prior to joining FDDI, he was working as the Joint Director & Controller of Examinations (COE) of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Jodhpur from 06th November 2020 to 25th October 2023.
Mr. Anil Kumar is an officer of Armed Forces Head Quarters Civil Service (AFHQCS) under Ministry of Defence selected through UPSC LDCE 2005. Before joining to the NIFT Jodhpur, Mr. Kumar was working as Deputy Director (Administration & Training) at Air HQ, New Delhi.
Mr. Anil Kumar had also been working in different Organisations earlier like Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS) under Ministry of Agriculture & NHAI under Ministry of Road Transport & Highways having experience and exposure in handling of Administration, Establishment, HR, Personnel, Recruitment, Vigilance & Legal, Finance matters for more than 18 years of experiences in different setup of organizations under Central Government.
He has a rich & blend experience and exposure in training and attended a lot of different Management Development Programme (MDP) & Training at IIM Lucknow, ASCI(Hyderabad), ATI Mysore, ISTM New Delhi, Seneca International, Toronto, Canada etc.
His educational qualification is B.A(Hons), LLB(MU), B.Ed(B.H.U), P.G(Public Administration), PGDCLM(ILI), DLM(Hyd), PGDFM((NIFM) etc. Besides, He did his Certification Course on People’s Management at Work Place & Human Resource Analytics from University of London & University of California, Irvine respectively.
He aspires to contribute significantly to make FDDI as a Centre of an Excellence as per its visions by dint of his vast experience, prudence and leadership qualities.
His wife Dr. Sangeeta Singh is working as Scientist ‘F’ in AFRI, Jodhpur under Ministry of Environment & Forest, Govt. of India.
Mr. M. Sundaresan has joined FDDI, Chennai Campus, as ‘Executive Director’ (ED) on 01st May 2024. Prior to joining FDDI, he was working as Deputy Director, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) New Delhi. During his service in AICTE, he has worked as Southern Regional Officer of AICTE for nearly ten years.
Mr. Sundaresan has also worked as faculty in the Department of Automobile Engineering, MIT Campus, Anna University, Chennai for more than five years. He has an experience of more than 10 Years in teaching and nearly 15 years in Regulating Technical Institutions in AICTE.
His Education qualifications are B.E., Mechanical Engineering and M.E., Thermal Sciences with diversification in Internal Combustion Engineering.
He desires to make FDDI be on par with other INI Institutions.
