Guatham Thapar
Founder and Chairman
The Avantha Group, India

Gautam Thapar is Founder and Chairman of the Avantha Group which includes Crompton Greaves Limited (power transmission and distribution equipment and services), BILT (paper and pulp), The Global Green Company Limited (food processing), Biltech Building Elements Limited (infrastructure), Avantha Power & Infrastructure Limited (energy), Avantha Business Solutions Limited (IT and ITES), Jg Containers (glass containers) and Avantha ERGO Life Insurance Company Limited (Life Insurance).

After studying chemical engineering in the U.S.A., Gautam returned to India and started his career as a factory assistant. He rose steadily and steered the organisation through a strategic and visionary turnaround, involving resilience and restructuring. Gautam became Group Chairman in 2006. In 2008, he received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Manufacturing.

Gautam is widely recognized for his thought leadership, and was appointed Member of the former National Security Advisory Board. Gautam takes his social responsibilities seriously; this is manifested in his involvement across three sectors: education, leadership development and sports. He is President of Thapar University, Chairman of the Board of Governors- National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), and Chairrman of the CII-Avantha Center for Competitiveness for SMEs, Past President of All India Management Association (AIMA). He was awarded AIMA Honorary Life Fellowship in 2013. A former Chairman of The Ananta Aspen Centre, he is President of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI). In 2013, King’s College, London conferred an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of Gautam’s ‘exceptional achievements in the fields of industry and philanthropy’.