Wharton India Economic Forum to meet in Philadlphia
13 Mar 2009
The 13th Wharton India Economic Forum will be held at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia on 21 March 2009.
It will host sessions by top global business leaders including billionaire Asian markets investor and co-founder of the Quantum Fund, Jim Rogers; the next global managing director of McKinsey Dominic Barton; the next CEO and managing director of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar; deputy chairman of Planning Commission and and the architect of the country's current economic policy, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia; and chairman of several Tata Group companies, Farrokh Kavarana.
As in the past, the forum will be driven by business leaders, politicians and experts from across the world who will come together to share their outlook and vision on the Road Ahead for India, this year's title theme.
The forum will also be attended by actor Abhishek Bachchan, cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, billiards champion Geet Sethi, tennis chmp Vijay Amritraj, Hotmail co founder Sabeer Bhatia and film director Rohan Sippy. In addition Rahul Gandhi, will share his vision for a new India in a specially taped video address.
The Forum will also run nine panel discussions on diverse topics covering every major aspect that is critical to the Indian economy. Many panels will be moderated by the country's top journalists including Sreenivasan Jain (Managing Editor NDTV) and Senthil Chengalvarayan (President & Group Editorial Director Business Media, CNBC TV18).
Keynotes and speakers at the Forum include:
Keynotes Address:
-- Jim Rogers, Investor & Co-Founder of the Quantum Fund-via live video-conferencing
-- Chanda Kochhar, Joint Managing Director, ICICI Bank
-- Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission- via live video-conferencing
-- Dominic Barton, Chairman, McKinsey & Company Asia Pacific; named the next Global MD
-- Farrokh Kavarana, Director, Tata Sons & Chairman of several Tata group Companies
-- Rahul Gandhi, Congress Party leader-taped address
Panel Speakers:
Investing in India: capital markets and hedge funds
-- Moderator: Senthil Chengalvarayan, president and group editorial director, business media, CNBC TV18
-- Ramdeo Agrawal, co-founder, Motilal Oswal Securities
-- Sandeep Naik, Principal, Apax Partners India Advisers Pvt. Ltd.
-- Seth Freeman, CEO, EM Capital Management
Bollywood's silver screen: pursuit of the Golden Globe
-- Moderator: Sreenivasan Jain, Managing Editor, NDTV 24x7
-- Abhishek Bachchan, actor, Bollywood
-- Ajay Bijli, chairman and managing director, PVR Limited
-- Mukesh Bhatt, Hindi film director and producer
-- Rohan Sippy, Hindi film director
Backstage demand drivers: the Indian media and ad industry
-- Bhaskar Das, executive president, Bennett Coleman (Times Group); president, Mumbai Ad Club
-- Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT India
-- Ravi Kiran, CEO South and Southeast Asia, Star-com
-- Arvind Sharma, chairman & CEO, Leo Burnett India
The economics of sports in India: prospects and pitfalls
-- Moderator: Vijay Amritraj- Former Tennis Player, sports commentator
-- Sunil Gavaskar, Former Cricket Captain, Team India
-- Geet Sethi, World Professional Billiards Champion
Entrepreneurship
-- Moderator: Srivastan Rajan, head of Bain India's Private Equity practice
-- Shantanu Prakash, chairman and managing director, Educomp Solutions Limited
-- Jay Sidhu, chairman and CEO, Sidhu Advisors, LLC; former chairman and CEO, Sovereign Bank
-- Vikram Shroff, executive director, United Phosphorous Ltd
-- Sabeer Bhatia, co-founder, Hotmail.com
-- Chander K Baljee, founder and CMD, Royal Orchid Hotels
(Sub)Prime Property: India's Real Estate in the aftermath of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis
-- Moderator: Louis Klein, founder and MD, IREO
-- Pawan Malhotra, managing director and CEO, Mahindra Lifespace Developers
-- Sameer Nayar, MD and head of real estate finance, Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse
-- Sanjay Verma, executive managing director, South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield
-- Samit Chopra, managing director, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj
-- Aanandjit Sunderaj, senior director and head of ICICI Private Equity Real Estate Investments
The healthcare duopoly: India, the medical centre of the world
-- Dr. Michael Ross, president, Cadilla Pharmaceuticals Ltd., USA
-- Shobhana Kamineni, Executive Director, Apollo Hospital Enterprises
-- Anula Jayasuria, Managing Director, Evolvence India Life Science Fund
Technology
-- Moderator: Sanjay Puri, president, Alliance for US India Business
-- Vijay Thadani, CEO, NIIT
-- Anand Eswaran, vice president of global professional services for HP Software
-- Basab Pradhan, former global head of sales, Infosys; chairman and founder Gridstone Research
Nurturing the national backbone: India's infrastructure, 2020 and beyond
-- Moderator: Srivastan Rajan, head of Bain India's Private Equity practice
-- Farrokh Kavarana, director, Tata Sons and Tata Industries and chairman of several Tata companies
-- Hari Das Khunteta, director, finance, executive director, Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd.
-- T N Thakur, chairman, Power Trading Corporation
The India express: tourism in the time of turmoil
-- Moderator: Devika Anand, head, travel programming, NDTV Lifestyle
-- Vikram Madhok, managing director, Abercrombie & Kent India Ltd
-- Chander K. Baljee, founder and managing director, Royal Orchid Hotels
The commitee invites those who wish to attend to registerat http://www.whartonindia.org.
The Wharton India Economic Forum will team with India Knowledge @ Wharton, the Wharton School's online journal of business analysis and commentary, to capture through audio and video interviews as well as print articles the insights provided by the high level speakers in attendance.
