Board of Directors

Mr. Vinayak Pai holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from College of Engineering (Pune), he is also a Post-Graduate in Management from Symbiosis, Pune and thereafter successfully pursued Executive MBA from IIT Bombay’s prestigious Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management.

Mr. Pai is the Managing Director of Tata Projects Limited where he is responsible for steering the Company’s overall strategic direction while implementing its Vision, Mission, and long-term goals. Prior to taking over the reins at TPL he was based in The Hague as Global Group President – Energy and Chemical Services business of Worley which involved operations in 49 countries and 30,000 employees with a revenue of $5 billion. Subsequently he was responsible for all of Worley’s business in EMEA / APAC, improving the revenue and margin of the business during the tough period of the COVID pandemic. His earlier stint was at Jacobs as President of its global Energy Chemicals and Resources (ECR) business.

He has been part of the Oil and Gas industry for over three decades and has extensive experience in executing upstream and downstream projects and successfully growing the business in a highly competitive environment.

Mr. Shashank Shekhar Jha, is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Whole-Time Director of the Company. He got his Bachelors’ degree in engineering from IIT- ISM Dhanbad and completed his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB).

As the CEO and Board Member he spearheads Company’s overall strategic direction and is responsible for achieving the Vision, Mission, and long-term goals. With his leadership, he ensures world-class production quality at the Company’s Manufacturing units, which contributes to India’s ‘Make in India’ ambition.

Prior to the joining Artson, he was the Executive, Business Operations and Country Manager India Oil Field Equipment, Baker Hughes which operates in over 120 countries. He played a crucial role in the growth of Baker Hughes’s India geomarket for Oil Field Equipment (OFE) business. Under his management, the annual revenue of Baker Hughes increased tenfold from around $20 million in 2010 to over $200 million in 2022.

He has over two decades of industry experience growing through the ranks from field service, business analyst, project management, sales and marketing roles. He brings deep domain expertise in oil & gas industry as well as commercial processes, account management and B2B sales.

Mr. Jyotisman Dasgupta aged 67 years, is an experienced Maritime and Oil & Gas Professional. He is a graduate in Naval Architecture with Honours from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur (1978), Postgraduate education in Structural Analyses from IIT Bombay, and Executive MBA from S.P. Jain School of Management & Research.

Mr. Dasgupta started his professional journey as Naval Architect at the design office of Mazagon Dock Limited. Subsequently, he was engaged with Indian Register of Shipping, (Classification Society) for 26 years, wherein the highest position he held was Senior Vice President and Chief Surveyor. From 2008 to 2015 he was associated with Larsen & Toubro, Heading the Upstream Marine Group of L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering Limited. Thereafter, Mr. Dasgupta, is with Arush Gas Technology Services, LLP, being its Co-founder, Vice President & Head of Technology.

Mr. Dasgupta is the president, Institution of Naval Architects since May 2018.

Mr. Ashish Kulkarni, Retd. Rear Admiral, aged 58 years, is an experienced operations planner and executor, Influential Team Building Man with 36+ years of service with Indian Navy Championing Operations, Project Management & Administrative / Staff Assignments. He completed MPhil in 2017 and MSc (Defence and Strategic Studies) in 2001 from Madras University; and MTech (Nuclear Engg. & Technology) from IIT Kanpur in 1995.

Mr. Kulkarni had been the Director General for four years for Indigenous Construction of Conventional Submarines and Admiral Superintendent of Naval Ship Repair Yard with the strength of 1400 civilian personnel. He was awarded Vishista Seva Medal (VSM) in 2020.

Ms. Priya Kher is a seasoned learning and performance consultant with a career spanning over 28 years. She holds a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology from Adler University in Chicago, USA and is an ICF Associate Certified Coach, certified by Erikson College International.

Ms. Kher integrates her experience in coaching, facilitation and psychology in her work in people development. Her focus areas are Psychological Safety, Emotional Intelligence, Employee Engagement, High Performance Cultures, Change Agility, Coaching Skills for Leaders, developing a Growth Mindset, Influencing without Authority, Leading Global Teams, and Instructional Design. Her proficiency in these domains enables her to design and deliver high-impact learning solutions, to enable people and organisations to thrive.

Ms. Priya Kher is the Director of Collective Quest since 2010.

Mr. Deepak Natarajan is the Chief Financial Officer – Tata Project Limited, the Holding Company.

He joined Tata Projects Limited in January 2020 in the finance function and played a critical role in establishing and leading commercial function and financial planning function.

Prior to joining Tata Projects, Mr. Natarajan was CFO, India Region – Baker Hughes. He has 20 years+ experience in controllership, corporate finance, business finance, treasury & supply chain finance having served in organisation like General Electric, Cisco System among others.

Mr. Natarajan is a Chartered Accountant and commerce graduate from Madras University.