Leaders shaping India’s institutions and industries through vision and execution

Across India’s evolving industrial and institutional landscape, leadership continues to define how organisations grow, adapt, and endure. From strengthening legacy enterprises to building new platforms for service and innovation, professionals across sectors are contributing to systems that support both operational excellence and sustainable growth.

Here is a closer look at the leaders whose vision, discipline, and execution power India’s institutions, industries, and long-term momentum.

Arun Hegde: Steering sustainable growth in Indian logistics

Arun Hegde, Director of Safewater Lines, brings over three decades of leadership experience across sales, operations, and regional management in the shipping and logistics sector. Along with Capt. Anil Malik, he has played a key role in building Safewater Lines into a pan-India freight forwarding organisation with a steadily expanding global presence.

Known for a people-first, process-driven approach, Arun focuses on sustainable growth, operational reliability, and building resilient, scalable teams.For more information, visit: www.swl.in

Anmol Kashmiri: Leading a 100-year institution through continuity and care

Anmol Kashmiri is the torch bearer of Penworkers, a century-old Indian manufacturer known for institutional seating across schools, cinemas, theatres, and stadiums. Viewing leadership as stewardship, he focuses on strong systems, skilled workers, and process discipline.

Alongside his brother Mohit and son Kavish, Anmol is guiding Penworkers toward responsible, future-ready growth while preserving its legacy of craftsmanship and trust built over 100 years.For more information, visit: www.penworkers.com

Sagar Kinare: Elevating India’s wellness landscape through aerial arts

Sagar Kinare is the founder of Pancha Koshas Aerial Yoga & Art School, India’s first institution dedicated exclusively to aerial yoga and arts. More than a training centre, it has grown into a vibrant aerial yoga community where artists, practitioners, and wellness seekers learn and grow together.

Sagar has built a one-of-a-kind platform fostering connection, specialised learning, and global exposure through retreats, festivals, and immersive training spaces.Know more about aerial yoga, visit: https://panchakoshas.com

Deepesh Thakkar: Bringing trust and clarity to property management

Deepesh Thakkar is the CEO and co-founder of Realestify, a property services company built around ease, trust, and clarity. Working closely with homeowners and NRIs, he recognised how stressful and opaque property management could be, and set out to change it.

Today, Realestify manages over 150 properties across Bengaluru and Mysore, helping owners rent, maintain, and track their assets with confidence and minimal involvement.For more information, visit: https://www.propmanagex.com

Pradeep Maheshwari: Turning entrepreneurial grit into a scalable real estate movement

From selling SIM cards in Chhattisgarh to building the state’s first large, professional multi-dimensional real estate firm, Pradeep Maheshwari’s journey reflects grit and strategic vision. A two-time TOBIP Top Businessman Award winner and recipient of the Yuva Samman Award 2025, he currently serves as Executive Vice President of YUVA–CAIT Chhattisgarh.

Known for championing transparency, tech-driven growth, and happiness-led leadership, Maheshwari is shaping a scalable, community-driven real estate ecosystem across India.

MAK Kotwal: Shaping south Mumbai’s premium real estate landscape

MAK Kotwal, founder of MAK Kotwal Realty, is a leading name in South Mumbai’s luxury real estate market with nearly three decades of industry experience. An engineer by training, he has advised on landmark transactions, including a Rs 227 crore deal at Altamount Road, and has been recognised by ET Realty and The Times of India for his leadership and trust-driven approach.

His firm is known for institutional partnerships, strong market insight, and long-term client relationships built on credibility and results.

Hira Bulani: Building a new ownership model for the entertainment industry

Hira Bulani is the Founder and CEO of MOVIEDOM, a India–Dubai–based blockchain-powered entertainment platform launched in 2021. A serial entrepreneur with over four decades of experience across entertainment, real estate, and distribution, he is pioneering the tokenisation of real-world entertainment assets, from mini multiplexes to films, music, and live events.

Through MDOM tokens, Hira is reshaping how creators, investors, and audiences participate, championing a new FAN2FOUNDER model built on transparency, shared ownership, and direct engagement.

Pankkaj Agarwal: Building India’s next-generation entertainment destinations

Pankkaj Agarwal is a serial entrepreneur with over two decades of building businesses across entertainment and luxury. He is the Founder-CEO of PUNO, a fast-scaling experiential entertainment brand in the FEC and indoor amusement space, which he is building into a pan-India category leader.

Known as an “Entertainpreneur,” he actively uses industry platforms to share insights on entering, building, operating, and scaling experience-led entertainment businesses.

Krishna B Kodey: Turning empathy into a new category of technology

This time, the Times of India recognised a company that prioritises human emotions over material value, creating a legacy where memory, emotion, and technology converge into an innovative product through iAVATARS. Krishna B Kodey is the founder of iAVATARS L.L.C, USA-based company born from his experience working with elderly residents in Canada.

Redefining how technology preserves human connections. Witnessing deep loneliness firsthand, he set out to create technology rooted in emotional connection.

His innovation, iA VLA(Virtual Loved Assist), is a patented physical AI companion designed to preserve the voice, presence, and emotional essence of loved ones, redefining how technology supports human bonds. For more info, visit: iAVATARS.ai

Dr. Nikita Trehan: Advancing the future of global laparoscopic gynecology

Dr. Nikita Trehan is a renowned gynecologist and laparoscopic surgeon with over 20 years of experience in gynecological endoscopy and minimally invasive gynecology at Sunrise Hospital, India.

A respected academician, she performs live surgical demonstrations globally and has authored textbook chapters with multiple international research publications.

Yamini Padmanabhan: Designing meaningful experiences across cultures

Yamini Padmanabhan is the founder of Venue Connect, a hospitality and event concierge born from a decade of global exposure across Europe, the Middle East, and India. Trained at the Swiss Hotel Management School and the University of Derby, she built her venture from the ground up, without legacy or shortcuts.

Today, Venue Connect curates refined corporate events, weddings, and milestone celebrations, reflecting Yamini’s belief that thoughtful hospitality, resilience, and personal vision can quietly create lasting impact.

Mohna Agarwal: Crafting cross-cultural weddings with heart and precision

Mohna Agarwal is the founder of Mohna & Co., a wedding planning company shaped by grit, instinct, and lived experience rather than convention. From volunteering at Jaipur Literature Festival to curating weddings across Rajasthan, she has built a reputation for cross-cultural sensitivity and cinematic detail, over the years. Balancing emotion with rigorous planning, Mohna takes charge of vendor coordination, cultural detailing, and on-ground decision-making, so couples remember the celebration, not the pressure.Disclaimer: The above content is non-editorial, and TIL hereby disclaims any and all warranties, expressed or implied, relating to it, and does not guarantee, vouch for or necessarily endorse any of the content.