含羞草社区

Rakesh Rai brings to the table a wealth of both legal and business acumen, making his strategic business advice highly appreciated and regarded by Aditya Birla Finance. A major part of an in-house legal counsel’s responsibilities involves partnering with business colleagues to develop strategy and support business development. The company, which offers a plethora of financial products, relies on Rai and his team to keep the business compliant in a heavily regulated industry.

Rai scores well in institutionalising a win-win approach, by balancing the company’s complex requirements with legal and risk appetite through his expertise in legal documentation and by delivering on commitments. While results focused, he is sensitive not only to internal stakeholders but also has a deep-rooted understanding of all external stakeholders. Under Rai’s leadership, the legal team has offered exceptional legal support against all odds. It has played a major role in concluding multiple institutional deals, namely securitisation, structured, co-lending and consortium deals under record turnaround time, the biggest contributor in meeting the company budget.

Rai embraces technology and innovation, exemplifying a forward-thinking approach by seamlessly integrating new technology and AI into daily operations. His visionary efforts to digitise the legal ecosystem has driven efficiency, streamlined processes and positioned the company to thrive in a rapidly evolving business landscape. His proposed ideas have not only enhanced compliance, mitigated risks, achieved cost savings and improved decision-making but have also driven greater efficiency and accountability, which have been well appreciated by the company.

Rai is also committed to building a strong, diverse and inclusive team. He fosters a culture of knowledge sharing, providing training and development opportunities to ensure continuous learning and skill enhancement. His efforts have been recognised by the organisation, and his team is a testament to his leadership.

Ajay Kapoor is the chief of legal, regulatory and advocacy at Tata Power.

Prior to joining Tata Power, he was the CFO and chief (legal, regulatory and commercial) of Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL). He handled TPDDL’s enforcement assessment and vigilance functions, and was also its chief risk officer. He joined TPDDL in October 2002 and rose to be its CFO in 2007.

Kapoor is an honours graduate from Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce, and a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He holds an MBA, LLB and LLM degrees. He was a rank holder in his CA course, and topped his MBA class, for which he was awarded a gold medal. He is also an alumnus of Columbia Business School, New York, where he pursued his Executive Program in Management. He attended the executive education programmes of Stern School of Business, New York University, Tuck School of Business, Columbia Business School and MIT Sloan School of Business, and the Tata Group Senior Leadership Program organised by Tata Management Training Centre and Harvard Business School.

He has more than 36 years of experience with companies such as ITC, Tata Group, Birla Group and HCL Group, covering all areas of finance, legal, and enterprise resource planning implementations. He has handled matters relating to foreign collaboration, joint ventures in India and abroad, financial restructuring, policy advocacy, capital raising and acquisitions, besides legal advisory. He has managed litigation matters at all levels and forums. During his tenure with TPDDL, the company was awarded the National Award for Excellence in Cost Management twice in the service sector category with turnover of more than INR10 billion (USD115 million) by the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India. He was also bestowed the “CFO 100 Roll of Honour” four times and the “CFO League of Excellence”. He was recognised as among the “Top 25 Thought Leaders” by SAP India and as a distinguished alumnus by the International Management Institute of New Delhi. He has been a regular speaker on topics relating to finance, accounting, tax and law at various forums. In 2021, he was honoured by the Society of Indian Law Firms for his contributions as in-house counsel in the field of corporate law. He was recognised as best in-house lawyer in the field of energy and natural resources by India Business Law Journal from 2022 to 2024. He has recently been recognised by Forbes India as a leading in-house counsel.

In his current role, Kapoor has maintained a very high success rate (exceeding 90%) in all litigation cases faced by the company, while guiding business units in successfully handling thorny legal issues daily.

Soumyadri is a generalist business lawyer with a solutions-first approach and an unrelenting drive for execution. He loves to get his hands dirty in delivering critical outcomes in often complex and ambiguous legal environments.

As the first legal hire at Drip Capital and a key member of the senior leadership team, he not only set up the legal and compliance function but also shaped it into a key business enabler across India, the US and Mexico. He also dons multiple hats across legal, compliance, regulatory, and investigations and due diligence. With a laser focus on driving scale and growth, Soumyadri has been instrumental in the launch of multiple market-defining products and solutions at Drip.

Prior to Drip Capital, he was the sole India counsel at IHH Healthcare India, overseeing a billion dollar-plus portfolio of healthcare assets, and led on two key divestitures that helped improve capital allocation.

Soumyadri cut his teeth at Khaitan & Co and AZB & Partners, where he acquired broad-based corporate and commercial experience across M&A, private equity and venture capital. He holds law degrees from the Government Law College, Mumbai, and the London School of Economics, and is also a qualified company secretary.