Leadership team

Mr Alwyn Keith Bowden is President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Essar Projects and heads the entire management of Projects Business Group, one of India's largest full-service Engineering, Procurement and Construction providers. Having designed and executed several organizational contracts based on insights, he is also responsible for engineering several winning partnerships. Mr Bowden has done his Civil Engineering from Swansea University in the UK. He has done extensive work in the areas of International Heavy Infrastructure and Process Projects. Characterized as a visionary leader, Mr Bowden prefers to lead by example and has extensive experience in working with diverse cultural backgrounds.

With a rich experience of over 29 years in the field of Infrastructure and Projects, Mr Bowden joined Essar from Sembawang Engineers and Constructors where he was President and CEO. He started his career with the G. Wimpey PLC where he spent close to 17 years handling International Heavy Infrastructure and Process Projects and left as the Project Director. Post his stint at the G. Wimpey, he joined Simon-Carves Ltd in the UK and soon became the Managing Director and Executive Director for Operations. Moving on in 2003 to Sembcorp Engineers and Constructors, Singapore as their Chief Operating Officer, Mr Bowden was responsible for several operations including a number of special initiatives such as securing a master plan for Fushun Petrochemicals Complex in China. He joined Sembawang Engineers as their President and CEO in 2006 and played a key role in rebuilding Operations for the Group.

Mr M S Ambegaonkar is the Director of Essar Projects, responsible for developing business for all the verticals of the Projects Business Group. He joined Essar in 1987.

Mr Ambegaonkar is a graduate in mechanical engineering from M S University, Vadodara with more than 46 years of experience in the Pipeline and Projects Execution industry. He is a very well-known and influential person in this industry and has successfully executed numerous projects.

Mr Ravindran Kayarat is the CEO, Hydrocarbon Strategic Business Unit (SBU) for Essar Projects, and is responsible for formulating and directing the overall business strategy and project execution in Hydrocarbon sector.

Mr Kayarat is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Calicut, Kerala, with more than 39 years of experience in the Construction and Project Management field spanning Nuclear, Fertiliser, Steel, and Oil and Gas sectors. Before joining the Essar Group in June 2004 and his present role, he has been associated with the Vadinar Refinery expansion project and has handled business development activities for Essar Projects. Mr Kayarat has extensive project management and execution experience in major complex projects while working for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, Hindustan-Dorr Oliver, an earlier stint of over nine years with Essar Projects, and over six years as Project Manager for major Oil and Gas projects for Qatar Petroleum.

Mr A V Amarnath is the CEO, Steel SBU, Essar Projects. He started his journey at Essar in 1993, as Deputy Manager, Mechanical, for Steel and Power projects, Hazira in Gujarat. A gold medalist in AMIE Mechanical Engineering of the 1982 batch, he joined as a Graduate Engineer Trainee at AICAM Engineering. Later, he moved to English Electric and worked there as Deputy Project Manager up to 1993.

In 1998, he was assigned the responsibility of Area Manager, ISBL Units, Refinery Projects. On successfully fulfilling this responsibility, he moved into a larger role as Project Manager in Pipeline SBU, for the Gujarat and Rajasthan projects in 2000. Mr Amarnath was instrumental in turning around both the projects despite the recession. In 2005, he was once again assigned the responsibility as a key team member in the execution of the Vadinar Refinery project. Based on his strong technical and leadership capabilities, Mr Amarnath was entrusted the responsibility of Project Director for Steel Projects at Hazira in 2009.

Mr Amit Gupta is the CEO, Pipelines and Terminals SBU, and is responsible for increasing the market share as well as for project execution in Pipelines and Terminals sector, not only in India but also overseas.

Mr Gupta is a graduate in civil engineering from KNIT Sultanpur and has a Masters in Construction Management from NICMAR, Pune. He has over 17 years of experience in the Construction industry, during which he has gained in-depth knowledge about project planning, resource management, commercial acumen and has over the period been instrumental in laying more than 5000kms of pipeline. He joined Essar Projects in 1994 and has previously worked with Welspun Corporation as Head of the Domestic Marketing team.

Cmde (retd) P C B Nair is the Managing Director and CEO of Essar Offshore Subsea (EOSSL). He is responsible for formulating and directing business strategies, and winning and executing projects in the Offshore and Subsea space, as an SBU head of Essar Projects. He joined the Essar Group in January 2008, which was his second stint with the Group. Earlier from 1988 to 1997, he was the CEO of Essar Offshore and MSV division of Essar Shipping. During his distinguished career in Offshore, he had among others executed several offshore engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects, in the capacity of Project Director and CEO of the company. He has also authored several published articles on maritime subjects.

Cmde Nair is an MSc in Defence Science and is also a specialist in Subsea warfare from MWTC Charleston, USA. He has more than 25 years of experience in Offshore and Subsea industry. After serving in the Indian Navy for about 20 years, he took premature retirement to work in the Offshore business. Prior to rejoining Essar, he had worked for Technip France for over 10 years. He was a director of Technip’s subsidiaries and also the CEO and Chairman of SEAMEC, a majority-owned company of Technip. He has also worked in a senior position at the Mazagon Dock.

Mr Mike Barton is the CEO, Civil and Building, Essar Projects. As Essar Projects expands its Civil and Building portfolio in India and in other targeted areas of South East Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America, Mr Barton brings his considerable international experience in these areas to achieve Essar’s objectives of becoming a leading international EPC contractor.

Mr Barton holds an honours degree in Civil Engineering from Imperial College, London, and has over 30 years of international civil engineering and building contracting experience. He has been responsible for a diverse range of construction work, particularly various forms of infrastructure, marine works, foundations and different types of buildings, in many countries around the world. He joined Essar Projects in September 2010 and was previously the Executive Project Manager of the USD5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort project in Singapore. During his career, he has also been associated with major international contractors such as Taylor Woodrow International, Leighton, Hsin Chong and was Regional Managing Director for one of Bilfinger and Berger’s Group companies in South East Asia.

Mr Anand Sonthalia is CEO of Essar Heavy Engineering Services, a part of Essar Project Business Group. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Bombay.

He joined Essar Group in the year 1974 and has actively participated in many of the projects and initiatives of Essar Group in the Construction Business during project stage of steel plant at Hazira, Gujarat. Mr Sonthalia is directly supervising the management functions of finance, commerce, accounts, treasury, internal control systems, procurement and corporate planning. He reports to Mr Alwyn Bowden, President and CEO, Essar Projects.

Mr V K Bhat is the Chief Executive Officer of Ports & Jetties SBU, responsible for all EPC projects of the Marine Division called Ports & Jetties of Essar Project (India) Limited.

Mr Bhat is a postgraduate in Offshore Engineering from IIT Mumbai. Thereafter, he joined Essar and steadily grew his role with Essar for 22 years. He then joined Afcons Infrastructure as a Chief of Marine Construction Division, coordinating numerous domestic and international marine projects. During his tenure with Essar & Afcons, Mr Bhat was associated with the construction of numerous jetties, dredging, offshore pipelines, breakwaters, seawater intakes etc.

After heading the marine division of Afcons for more than five years, Mr Bhat returned to Essar in 2009 as CEO of Ports & Jetties SBU, which is a marine EPC arm of EPIL.

Mr S N Eachampati is the CEO, Power sector, and is responsible for converting the opportunities in Power sector into the projects and for effectively delivering those projects and returning the expected profits to the stakeholders. He joined Essar Projects in 2009.

With a proven record of over 34 years in the areas of Project Management and Control and implementation of large scale projects in varied sectors, Mr Eachampati is recognised as a successful Construction Management Professional and has previously worked with M/s Dodsal and M/s Larsen & Toubro.

Mr Srinivas Tata heads IT function as Chief Information Officer (CIO), Essar Projects consisting of 13 legal entities and 10 SBU’s spread across 15 major sites in India and overseas. He has done B Tech (Electronics and Communication) from SV University, Tirupathi and MBA (Administration) from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.

With over 22 years of experience in the field of Software Development, IT Infrastructure Management, Program Management, Process Improvement and IT road-mapping, Mr Tata has worked with various organizations like Indian Navy, Kinetic Engineering, Easy Call Paging Company, Transamerica Apple Distribution Finance. He joined Essar Projects from Lear Corporation, Fortune 150 American Multinational, where he was heading the IT services as CIO.

Mr Tapash Bhattacharya is currently Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Essar’s Projects Business Group, which consists of several operating companies in India and overseas. He is a Director on the Boards of Essar Projects and several other companies of the Essar Projects group. Mr Bhattacharya is an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad (1978 – 80), and an Associate Member of Institute of Cost and Works Accountants. He graduated from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi with B Com (Hons).

Mr Bhattacharya joined Essar Group in June 2008. He was earlier employed with Reliance Communications (RCom), India’s second-largest telecom company, as CFO, Wireless Business for four years. He played a leading role in setting up systems and processes for the newly formed company, and in financial management of this USD2 billion per annum business. He was a key member of the Leadership Committee, which took strategic decisions on tariffs, handset procurement and pricing, capex, and marketing spends. Prior to that Mr Bhattacharya was employed for 22 years with Hindustan Unilever (HUL), the largest multinational and consumer goods company in India. He worked across diverse businesses in a wide range of roles covering finance, accounting and reporting, audit, and mergers and acquisition. He was Commercial Controller of HUL’s Foods business and also had general management responsibility as Business Head of Edible Oils and Fats Business.

Mr Chandrajit Pati is the Head, Human Resources for Essar Projects. An alumnus of the prestigious XLRI, Jamshedpur, he joined the Essar Group in January 2007. In his 20 years career, Mr Pati has been associated with numerous reputed national and multinational companies such as Coca-Cola, Airtel, Tata Motors, Tata Teleservices, and SAIL.

Some of his noteworthy contributions to the Essar Group include initially growing and managing the HR function for Essar Tower Infrastructure Private Limited and thereafter for its smooth transition of business to American Tower Company. He was heading the HR function of Essar Shipping, Ports and Logistics before moving into the Projects Group.

Mr Pradeep Kathuria joined as Head of Essar Equipment Bank in June 2010. He has over 35 years’ experience in the field of Construction, Material Handling and Heavy Equipment in India and abroad.

He has completed his B E, Mechanical from NIT Bhopal and has vast experience of sourcing and procurement of construction machineries from Europe, USA and Far East for total equipment management. He has worked with Era Infra Engineering Limited as CEO of Equipment Management Division and Ready-Mix Concrete Divisions before joining Essar. Prior to that he was employed with QUIPO Infrastructure Equipment Limited as CEO, Construction and Heavy Equipment SBU, and with Punj Lloyd Limited and Escorts Limited.

Mr Robin Scowcroft heads the Commercial, Safety, Planning and Quality function for Essar Projects. A member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, he joined Essar Projects in 2009. Mr Scowcroft has spent the majority of his career in the UK, more recently he chose to accept a new opportunity and go overseas to lead the Commercial function in the setting up and development of a new business in India. This has led to an even bigger worldwide opportunity within Essar Projects.

Mr Scowcroft has over 36 years experience in the Construction Industry and prior to going overseas, he specialised for 13 years in Private-Finance Initiatives (PFI) and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). He has worked with a range of public sector clients, including schools, health, correctional facilities and defense. He has a reputation for delivering the clients’ requirements within budget and on-time, while achieving commercial objectives. Mr Scowcroft has been involved at a senior level in a number of high-profile PFI and PPP schemes, such as Swindon Acute Hospital, GCHQ, Glasgow and Edinburgh Schools, NHS LIFT and BSF. His partnering approach was acknowledged by the National Audit Office as being exemplary, following one of their detailed Project Audits when he was asked to speak at their annual conference on partnering.

Mr Shyam Bagrodia is the Group President for Procurement and oversees the procurement for the Essar Group. A Mechanical Engineer from IIT Kharagpur, Mr Bagrodia completed his MBA from University of Rochester, New York, USA, where he was bestowed with Beta Gama Sigma, the highest scholastic award to graduating MBA students. He had been associated with Essar's Refinery since its inception and handled initial funding of the project by the Financial Institutions. Subsequently, he headed the Commercial division of the Refinery including contracts, procurement and the expansion of the existing refinery from 10.5 to 34 MTPA.

Mr Bagrodia has over 40 years of business and industrial experience including 15 years with Essar Oil and 24 years with Birla Group. After his MBA, he worked for a few months with Professor Myron Gordan, the then Global Authority on Cost of Capital, before returning to India. He started his career with Grasim Industries in Kerala, and at the age of 32, was deputed as CEO to set up state-of-the-art grassroots Cement Project in dacoit-infested, difficult terrain of Damoh in Madhya Pradesh. The Diamond Cement Factory was established in record time of 18 months. Mr Bagrodia was responsible for expanding the capacity to 1.2 MTPA, with a grinding unit in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, to avail huge fiscal benefits. His last position was as Managing Director of Nalin Industries