Board of Directors

Chairman and Whole-time Director

Mr. Prahlad Rai Agarwala is the Executive Chairman of Rupa & Company Limited and has been a member of the Board of Directors since February 6, 1985. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law from University of Calcutta. With over five decades of experience, he has been instrumental in building India’s first organized hosiery brand-Rupa. His innovative ideas and strategic direction has given the Company an edge in the market globally. Under his aegis, Rupa and Company Limited was awarded as the Most Promising Brand by The Economic Times in 2018. For his distinguished service in the field of Trade and Industry, he has been conferred with Padma Shri, one of the highest civilian honours of India in the year 2022. He was conferred Management Excellence Award by Calcutta Management Association in the year 2021 and Face of the Industry award by FOHMA in the year 2022. He is a member of the Governing Council of Apparel, Made-ups & Home Furnishing Sector Skill Council (AMHSSC), a Council Under Ministry of Textile, Government of India. Apart from the same, he was appointed by the Hon’ble President of India as the Honorary Consul of Republic of Colombia in Kolkata.  An ardent philanthropic and an education enthusiast, he is actively serving as founder chairman of Sobhasaria Engineering College Sikar, Rajasthan and Chairman- Board of Governors, Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata.

Vice Chairman

Mr. Ghanshyam Prasad Agarwala is the Executive Vice-Chairman of Rupa & Company Limited and has been a Member of the Board of Directors since July 1987. With strong leadership skills and vast experience in hosiery industry, Mr. Agarwala has been a strategic pillar and currently engaged in the business operations of the Company. He is a well-known face in Kolkata for various philanthropic activities and is also a Founding Member of Sobhasaria Engineering College Sikar, Rajasthan.

Managing Director

Mr. Kunj Bihari Agarwalis the Managing Director of Rupa & Company Limited and has been a Member of the Board of Directors since July 1987. With more than four decades of rich experience in the textile industry, he has played a pivotal role in setting up the marketing and distribution channels of the company. He is responsible for driving the growth and implementation of strategic decisions in line with the vision & mission of Rupa. With several path-breaking initiatives -strategies, he has helped Rupa to rise to its present position of eminence in the Indian hosiery industry. He is currently the President of Federation of Hosiery Manufacturers Association of India (FOHMA), Governing Body Member of Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC), Kolkata and Member of Cotton Yarn Advisory Board, (Ministry of Textiles, Government of India). In the past, he has been the Presidents of Merchants' Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Kolkata), West Bengal Hosiery Association (Kolkata). He strongly believes in serving the society and has also been actively associated with various philanthropic and charitable institutions.

Whole-time Director

Mr. Ramesh Agarwal is a Whole-time Director of Rupa & Company Limited. He holds a Master's degree in Business Administration and has over 30 years of specialized experience in the textile industry. He plays a key role in the production, planning & distribution of company’s products. His extensive knowledge and leadership qualities have helped in the expansion of business across the globe. He is the Past President of Merchants' Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Kolkata) and is currently serving as the Vice President of West Bengal Hosiery Association.

Whole-time Director

Mr. Mukesh Agarwal is a Whole-time Director of Rupa & Company Limited. He has more than three decades of vast experience in the textile industry and has played a crucial strategic role in the setting up systems & process for distribution and production planning. He is a result-orientated individual with a positive outlook that has been instrumental in Rupa’s growth to newer heights. His capabilities to experiment and innovate with newer products have given Rupa an edge in the market globally.

Whole-time Director

Mr. Vikash Agarwal is a Whole-time Director of Rupa & Company Limited. He is a Commerce Graduate from St Xavier’s College, Kolkata and holds a Diploma in Marketing from University of California, USA. Since 2004, Mr. Agarwal has been widely acknowledged as the architect of some of the most successful and premium offerings of the company. With a strong track record of creating profitable brands, aspirational to Indian and global consumers, he is a well-known name in the Indian textile and apparel industry. Mr. Agarwal has been the Past President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Kolkata and Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO)-Kolkata Chapter (a global leadership organization of Chief Executives worldwide). He was invited to “Champions of Change”, an initiative undertaken by the NIITI Aayog, as part of the select group of Entrepreneurs from across the country.

Executive Director

Mr. Niraj Kabra is the Executive Director of the Company and has been a member of the Board of Directors since February 12, 2018. Mr. Niraj Kabra is a graduate from the Calcutta University and is associated with the Company since 2003. He has profound knowledge and experience in day to day commercials operations and administration of the Company. Mr. Kabra is also actively involved in technical infrastructure development of the Company.

Independent Director

Mr. Vinod Kumar Kothari is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) and is an internationally recognized author, trainer and consultant on specialized financial subjects, viz. housing finance, securitisation, credit derivatives, accounting for financial instruments, structured finance, banking regulations, corporate laws etc. 
Mr. Kothari has 16 books on finance and corporate laws to his credit, some of which have been published from the USA and Singapore.
Mr. Kothari has over the years collaborated with various domestic government and regulatory bodies for policy making issues. He was a part of the Ministry of Civil Aviation working group to facilitate rupee-denominated aircraft leasing in India and had been retained by National Housing Bank for assisting them in promoting Covered Bonds in India. He was also retained by the SEBI to chair a committee on introduction of mortgage REITs in India. He was also a part of the sub-committee constituted by SEBI’s COBOSAC to suggest changes in the regulations for issue and listing of security receipts in India. 
He has also led several projects for multilateral development agencies like Asian Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group etc.
He was a member of the Company Law, Corporate Affairs Committee of the ASSOCHAM and holds the position of Director in Indian Securitisation Foundation.
He is a regular speaker at professional institutes including IIM, Calcutta and has authored several books and articles.

Independent Director

Mr. Dipak Kumar Banerjee is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and has over five decades of experience, particularly in the field of mergers & acquisitions, corporate restructuring, corporate and financial management. He started his career with Life Insurance Corporation in 1970 and thereafter joined Hindustan Lever in 1975. He was associated with Unilever Group of Companies in India and UK, for over two decades and finally retired as Chairman of Unilever Uganda Limited in July, 2000.

Independent Director

Mr. Ashok Bhandari is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and has served as the Chief Financial Officer and President at Shree Cements Limited for over 25 years. Mr. Bhandari has over 40 years of experience as a key senior executive negotiating with banks, governments, JV partners and technology & equipment suppliers. He was responsible for leading initiatives in developing countries for green field plants/ joint ventures and management contracts in cement and building materials domain and has extensive experience in cost management. He was awarded as the best CFO in India in 2014 for leverage management amongst large corporates by Business Today. Yes Bank voted as the second best CFO (2013) in Asia by the Sell Side analysts for the Institutional Investor. He was invited to the best 100 CFO of India scroll compiled by CFO – India (2010). He currently serves as an Independent Director on the Board of several listed companies.

Independent Director

Mr. Sushil Patwari is an Independent Director of our Company. He has more than 40 years of experience in the field of cotton yarn and knitted fabric industry. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations. He is currently the executive chairman of Nagreeka Exports Limited. He joined our Board on November 17, 2003.

Independent Director

Smt. Alka Devi Bangur, M.A (English), M.A (Hindi), MBA, is the Managing Director of Peria Karamalai Tea & Produce Co. Ltd. Smt. Bangur is also a Director of Apurva Export Pvt. Ltd., and The Marwar Textiles (Agency) Pvt. Ltd. She has been a Non Executive Director at Maharaja Shree Umaid Mills Ltd since November 30, 1996. She was also a Director of International Paper APPM Limited from September 14, 1996 to May 17, 2011. She has over 16 years of experience.

She is past President of the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, the oldest chamber of the country. She is the member of FICCI Ladies Organization (Ladies Wing of FICCI). She is also the committee member of Bharat Chamber of commerce.

Independent Director

Mr. Dharam Chand Jain is an Independent Director of the Company. He has more than 45 years of experience in the field of textile and knitted fabric industry. He is currently serving as the Chairman of K.D. Sarees Emporium Private Limited.

Independent Director

Mr. Sunil Rewachand Chandiramani is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and also hold a degree of Masters in Systems Management from National Institute of Information Technology. He had spent 25 years with Ernst & Young LLP, India’s leading professional services firm. He was responsible for leading India’s Largest Advisory Practice and also led the development of the Global Innovation Strategy for EY Global. He was the Relationship Partner for the TATA Group globally. He has been a member of several committees constituted by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and CII. He is currently serving as an Independent Director on the Board of several Listed and PE funded organisations.