Ms. Akila Krishnakumar

Ms. Akila Krishnakumar is an alumnus of the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS), Pilani.

She is a founding partner of Social Venture Partners (India), a network of engaged citizens coming together to address complex social issues, particularly livelihood opportunities for disadvantaged women and youth.

Until February 2013, she was President of Global Technology and also Country Head for SunGard, a Fortune 500 company and global leader in financial services software.

She is a recognized thought leader to technology-driven companies who are building large scale and diverse businesses across the world. Her unique focus on operational excellence, talent engagement and customer relevance has repeatedly delivered great returns for the many businesses she managed during a 30 year career.

She has held several key positions in national industry bodies and business chambers. She has also won several awards and accolades including being among the top 5 women leaders in the Indian technology industry for many years and is also listed amongst the “50 Most Powerful Business Women in India”.

Mr. Juan-Francisco Defalque

Mr. Juan-Francisco Defalque (holding DIN 07318811), aged 54 years, completed his Master degree in Mining Engineering from Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium in the year 1987. He started his professional career in 1989 with CBR, a Belgian International Company engaged in the production of cement, ready-mix and aggregates in Europe and North America (in 1993 CBR was acquired by HeidelbergCement Group). From 1989 to 2002 he held several management positions including director of technical projects for Belgium. In 2002 he joined HC Cimbenin located in Benin (West Africa) as its Managing Director. In 2006 he joined HC Indocement to set up a completely new Heidelberg Technology Centre (HTC) Indonesia organization holding the position of Head of HTC Indonesia. During his time in Indonesia several major investment projects were executed or started including an integrated plant with 10,000 TPD clinker line located south of Jakarta.

In 2015 he joined HeidelbergCement Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore as Director HTC Asia-Oceania responsible for managing the technical centres in the region, which not only provides technical support to all the cement manufacturing facilities of HeidelbergCement group in this region but also takes care of the new projects.

In India he holds the position of a Director in HeidelbergCement India Limited, Zuari Cement Limited and Gulbarga Cement Limited.

Ms. Soek Peng Sim

Ms. Soek Peng Sim (holding DIN 06958955), aged 49 years, is presently Finance Director of HeidelbergCement Asia Pte Ltd. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Accounting from University of Malaya, Malaysia. She also holds CPA Degree of The Malaysian Association of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) as well as Chartered Accountant Degree of Malaysian Institute of Accounting (MIA). Prior to joining HeidelbergCement Group, she worked with Reckitt Benckiser Group, Philips Malaysia, Ho Hup Malaysia and The Lion Group, Malaysia. She has rich and vast experience of more than 23 years. Traversing her professional career she has gained experience in financial planning & analysis, business development and support, accounting & taxation, construction & property development and construction materials industry.

In India she holds the position of a Director in HeidelbergCement India Limited, Cochin Cements Limited, Zuari Cement Limited and Sitapuram Power Limited.

Mr. Sushil Kumar Tiwari

Mr. Sushil Kumar Tiwari, aged 62 years, is an Engineer in Electrical as well as Electronics and Communication from the Institute of Engineers, Kolkata. In his career spanning over 38 years, Mr. Tiwari has rich and vast experience of over 31 years in the cement industry. For the past 10 years he is associated with HeidelbergCement India Limited (HCIL) and he has undertaken multifarious assignments which have led to increase in operational efficiencies and improvement of consumption parameters.

He has been elevated to the position of Whole Time Director in HCIL w.e.f. 29 April 2011.

Mr. Tiwari holds the position of “Occupier” under the Factories Act for all the factories owned by HCIL and is also designated as “Owner” under the provisions of Mines Act, of all HCIL Mines. He plays a crucial role in managing the operations of the plants and mines of HCIL.

Mr. Tiwari also holds the position of “Occupier” under the Factories Act of all the factories owned by Zuari Cement Limited (ZCL) and he also designated as “Owner” under the provisions of Mines Act of all mines owned by ZCL.

Presently he also holds the position of Chairman of Cochin Cements Limited and as a Director of Zuari Cement Limited, an associate Group Company.

Mr. Narsimha Rao Vutukuru

Mr. VVL Narasimha Rao has been a long serving member of cement industry and brings in multi business exposure and held a variety of roles in sales & marketing and commercials. He is a science graduate with an MBA from Indian school of business (ISB) with around 30 years of experience. Before Zuari Cement he also worked with Larsen & Toubro, Kajaria Ceramics , Ultratech Cement & Electrosteel Castings .

Mr.Srinivasan Sundaram

A Mechanical engineer from Kerala University, Mr.Sundaram has over 29 years of experience in Operations, Projects and Business Development .

He started his career at Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd, in the Plant maintenance and Projects division before taking up a corporate role reporting to the Whole Time Director.

Mr.Sundaram joined Zuari Cement in the year 2002. His initial responsibility was optimization of Yerraguntla and Sitapuram plant performances. Later, he has been instrumental in conceptualization and execution of Line-2 at YGL. In his stint as the Head of Business Development, Zuari Cement erected and commissioned 2 grinding centres at Chennai in Tamilnadu and at Solapur in Maharashtra and also a Terminal at Cochin Port in Kerala.

Mr.Sundaram, in his capacity as the Manufacturing Head at Zuari, is responsible for the operations of all its plants of 8 Mi T capacity apart from heading the Business Development and Projects departments. Also, he heads Sitapuram Power Limited (SPL), a Captive Power plant at Sitapuram, as its Managing Director.