Our Previous Jury

Former CEO STUP Consultants & former Executive Director Gammon Engineers & Contractors Pvt. Ltd.

V.N. Heggade , the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of STUP & former Executive Director of Gammon and is a founder of DECon Complete Solutions. He is a senior professional with a rich experience of nearly 4 decades in Construction sector in the areas of Design Management, Technical Management, Site Management, Project Management & Contract Management of Highways, Bridges, Energy structures, Environmental, Marine and Hydraulic structures.

He is a recipient of around 17 National recognitions in addition to an International prize from IABSE-Zurich and a fellowship from fib. He has more than 190 publications including the conference proceedings to his credit and is a member of various IRC (Indian Roads Congress) and BIS (Bureau Of Indian Standards) code making committees. He is also a member of TG 10.1 of Federation Internationale Du Beton, which is a special Task Group working on FIB Model code 2020. Apart from being on Technical Board of ICI (Indian Concrete Institute) and Academic Board of SPCE (Sardar Patel College Of engineering) & Ecole centrale school of engineering, he is also a Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering (FNAE). He has been a strong proponent of sustainability & aesthetics in construction and has many publications on the same since 2000.

Ish Anand, currently an Entrepreneur, Founder CEO & Country Manager (India & UAE) at the Global Wealth Group a UK based Fractional Ownership Company working with Real Estate & Alternative Asset classes. He specializes in Real Estate & Infrastructure, Hospitality, Private Equity, Education, E-commerce and Startups / SME sectors.

Some of his notable projects include India Bulls Real Estate, Ascendas CapitaLand, Leela Hotels, Palaces & Resorts, Inno Fund & Phoenix Hodu Funds and The Choice Foundation etc. He has been instrumental in fund raise initiatives for Real Estate & Infrastructure to the tune of US$ 800 mil for deployment in India.

In a career spanning five continents and 30 years, Ish currently sits on several boards and advises companies in various capacities across the world in addition to having his own investments in a few successful startup ventures.

An alumnus of the National University of Ireland, Wharton Business School, Georgia Tech and Cornell University, Ish is a much sought after speaker on the Events & Conference circuit and has appeared on television as an expert commentator in addition to having been featured in a book.

Mr. Neeraj Jain holds a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering and Masters in Structural both form IIT Kanpur. He worked for 30 years as an IRSE officer in the Railwayswith vast experience of design and execution of various structures. He quit the Railways in 2011 to head the Rs 11,000 crore Mumbai Metro Line 2 on behalf of the Concessionaire Reliance Infrastructure.

He has been associated with a large number of infrastructure projects from conceptualisation through design to commissioning.

Mr. Jain believes in questioning the status quo and believes that this leads to better solutions, once we can look at a problem from a new perspective.

Sanjay Pendharkar is a highly accomplished professional with over 34 years of experience in the Construction & Material Handling equipment industry. Throughout his career, he has consistently demonstrated his expertise in planning and implementing strategies to optimize distribution networks and enhance the investment levels of trade partners.

He is widely recognized for his outstanding leadership, particularly in driving companies to excel in highly competitive markets. He has been instrumental in developing and implementing innovative marketing concepts and strategies that have significantly contributed to business growth and market penetration. With his exceptional sales acumen, he possesses a natural talent for identifying and capitalizing upon opportunities to maximize sales revenues and optimize overall company benefits.

In addition to his strategic capabilities, Sanjay Pendharkar is an excellent communicator and possesses exceptional people management skills. His proven ability to successfully manage cross-functional teams highlights his talent for effective leadership, motivation, and guidance of professional and support staff.

Having worked across PAN India and in South East Asia, Sanjay has gained extensive experience and a global perspective. Currently, he serves as a knowledge Partner for several multinational corporations and start-ups. Additionally, he contributes as a Mentor of Change with Niti Aayog's "Atal Innovation Mission," showcasing his commitment to fostering innovation and driving positive change.

Vijay Singh Verma is a Civil Infrastructure Development Expert. He began his career as an assistant engineer with Govt. of Madhya Pradesh and retired from the service as an Engineer-in-chief, Public Works Department, Govt. of MP. During his tenure in MP Public Works Department, he planned, designed, procured, prepared budget, monitored progress and quality for construction of many infrastructure projects in various built environment fields such as roads, bridges and buildings all over the state of MP. Approximately 4000 buildings were completed in his tenure as Engineer-in-chief, Public Works Department. He has also done quality audit of several ongoing large and complex highway projects of NHAI.

Currently, Vijay Singh Verma is the Project Director of ‘Statue of Oneness’ project of national importance undertaken by Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development & Corporation. The current responsibility includes a project envisaging planning, designing, fabricating, erecting a 108 feet tall multi metal statue and support structure with expected service life of 500 years.

Alongside, he was the President of Indian Building Congress for the year 2022-2023 and is Life Member of Indian Road Congress. He is very keen to adopt latest technologies and support development of advance methodologies for better management and execution of infrastructure projects.

Dr. Yogini Deshpande wears multiples hats as a researcher, entrepreneur and educator. She is currently the Technical Director of Renuka Consultants and holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from Purdue University. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Geotechnical Engineering from Mumbai University. She has recently been appointed as Chair Professor at the O P Jindal University in the Department of Civil Engineering. She has been the recipient of the 2006 Fellow of International Road Federation and has received awards in USA for her research and teaching in academia. In 2016 she was felicitated by Ambuja Cements Ltd for her contribution to the construction industry. She is on the Board of Directors of India Chapter of American Concrete Institute and Women in Deep Foundation Institute, India Chapter.

After spending a decade in USA teaching at various Universities, she returned in 2012 to India. Under her leadership Renuka Consultants has seen a 30% year on year growth and provided consulting to many niche projects such as Mumbai Coastal Road, Mumbai Trans Harbour, Mumbai Metro 3, 2A and Metro 5, Iconic Mandovi Panaji Bridge called Atal Setu.

Renuka Consultants is empanelled with Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Reserve Bank of India, IIT Mumbai etc and has carried out Structural Assessment services for various types of structures including heritage structures and essential services structures such as water reservoirs & pumping stations built in 1890 to earthquake damaged structures. They have done structural health assessments for India’s first Nuclear Reactor Apsara, Trombay.

Under her leadership Renuka Consultants opened India’s first Material Testing Laboratory in PPP mode with Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation.

Dr. Yogini’s philosophy is to build a developed equitable India that is rooted in the foundation of gender equality and sustainable development.