Born in August 3rd 1955, Mr Ajay Piramal is one of India’s leading industrialists, philanthropists and social entrepreneurs. He is Chairman of a business conglomerate, Piramal Group & Shriram Group (market cap: in excess of USD 8 billion; Revenue USD 3 billion), with activities in healthcare, financial services, real estate, information services, glass packaging etc. Apart from India, the Group has set-ups in the US, UK, European Union, Japan, Pacific and South Asia, with products being sold in more than 100 countries. The Group employs 76,000+ personnel and serves over 100 million customers.

The Group is involved in various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in the space of primary education, potable water supply, leadership development, empowerment of women in rural India, rural healthcare, provision of mid-day meals to the school children, etc. The Piramal Foundation has received the most prestigious “Corporate Trailblazer Award” launched by the India Today Group (Safaigiri Awards 2015 as a part of the national campaign called Clean India Mission). The Award was presented by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi. This Award was given in recognition of the excellent work being done by Piramal Sarvajal in the social entrepreneurship space.

Directorships: Apart from Group Companies, he serves on the Harvard Business School’s Board of Dean’s Advisors and the Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Indore, and Pratham (largest NGO in the space of Primary Education). He is a Member of the Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee (AIPAC) constituted by SEBI, as well as the National Council of Confederation of Indian Industry.

He was a Member of the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Council for Trade & Industry and the Board of Trade constituted by the Ministry of Commerce. In addition, he was a Member of the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Task Force on Pharmaceuticals and Knowledge-Based Industries, and served on the Central Board of State Bank of India for 12 years. Awards: Recipient of several national and international awards such as “Entrepreneur of the Year” Award of UK Trade & Investment Council (2006); Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year in the Healthcare & Life Sciences category (2004); “Business Leader of the Award” instituted by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce; “Forbes Philanthropy Awards” in the Outstanding Philanthropist category in 2013 and 2014. SEN Sustainability Award – Philanthropy and Best of Best - instituted by World Presidents’ Organisation (2015). Corporate Citizen of the Year award by AIMA Managing India Awards (2016). He has been attending the annual meetings of World Economic Forum for twenty years. Education : B. Sc (Hons) from Bombay University; Master in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies; Advanced Management Programme, Harvard. Mr. Piramal, has been conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Philosophy (D. Phil) by the Amity University, India.