The 18th Wharton India Economic Forum 2014 Presents: India: Time to Reboot

Vikram Malhotra, Ravi Venkatesan and Arundhati Bhattacharya to address students and professionals at the Wharton India Economic Forum

Mumbai, India, February 10th, 2014 – The student leadership committee of the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) announced today that the 18th WIEF, to be held in Philadelphia on February 22nd , 2014, will feature some of India’s top leaders including keynote speakers Vikram Malhotra, Chairman of the Americas, McKinsey and Company, Ravi Venkatesan, Former Chairman of Microsoft India and Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson, SBI. 

The theme of this year's conference is ‘India: Time to Reboot’. With general elections to be held in May 2014, India has been given the perfect opportunity to make a fresh start. This year’s conference aims to reflect carefully on the past decade to pinpoint India’s key success factors and areas for political and economic improvement. Showcasing 5 panels, one dedicated to this theme, WIEF strives to be a forum for delegates to reassess India’s economic growth trajectory, re-evaluate its regulatory landscape and draw up an action plan to ensure the country meets its full potential over the coming years. The forum will be attended by senior industry leaders from Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, Finance, Private Equity, Infrastructure and Real Estate. Prominent speakers include Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Founder, Naukri.com); Alok Kejriwal (Co-Founder and CEO, Games2Win); Dinesh Kanabar (Deputy CEO, KPMG India) and Jitendra Virwani (Chairman, Embassy Group). Appended below are the names of speakers and panelists for WIEF 2014.

Aside from being a forum for lively debate on India's most pressing issues, WIEF is unique in its focus on promoting entrepreneurship. This year, WIEF will hold a Startup Competition that will feature innovative India-focused start-ups. The competition comprises two separate Innovation Tournaments for early-stage ideas and post-proof of concept start-ups, and was launched on November 24th, 2013. Ten finalists across the post-proof of concept and idea categories were chosen on 30th January, 2014. 

Winning entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to pitch to an elite panel of venture capital investors and established entrepreneurs on the day of the conference and will compete for prize money of up to $10,000. 

Over the years, WIEF, an annual conference organized by Wharton students, has been attended by over 500 people each year and has included renowned and influential keynote speakers and panelists such as Former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; current Union Minister of Finance, Mr. P. Chidambaram; Mr. Arvind Kejriwal; founder of the Aam Aadmi Party; Mr. K.V. Kamath, Chairman of Infosys Limited; Ambassador Arun K. Singh; member of the parliament, Varun Gandhi and industrialists like Mr. Anil Ambani and Mr. Sunil Mittal. 

For more information visit: http://www.whartonindia.com/index.php. For inquires, email chairs@whartonindia.com. 

Keynotes and speakers at the forum include:

Keynote Speakers

Vikram Malhotra – Chairman of the Americas, McKinsey and Company

Ravi Venkatesan - Former Chairman, Microsoft India

Arundhati Bhattacharya – Chairperson, State Bank of India

Theme Panel: 'India: Time to Reboot'

Dinesh Kanabar - Deputy CEO, KPMG India

Sumant Sinha – Founder Chairman & CEO, Renew Power Ventures Pvt Ltd.

Finance/Private Equity

Amit Saxena - CEO, Karvy Finance

Jingdong Hua - Vice President, Treasury and Syndications, IFC

Entrepreneurship & VC

Alok Kejriwal - CEO and Co-Founder, Games2Win

Sanjeev Bikhchandani – Founder, Naukri.com

Mukund Mohan – Head, Microsoft Ventures - Fund, Accelerators and Engagement for Asia

Rajesh Sawhney – Founder, GSF Accelerator

Kartik Hosanagar - Associate Professor of Internet Commerce, The Wharton School (Moderator)

NRI 

Prasad Setty - Vice President of People Analytics & Compensation, Google

Kanika Dewan - Founder, Ka Design Atelier Group President, Bramco Group

Real Estate & Infrastructure

Jitendra Virwani – Chairman, Embassy Group

Raj Inamdar - Founder and CEO, Sorani Finance & Real Estate

Rajeeva Ratna Shah - Former Secretary, Planning Commission of India

Dr. Archana Hingorani - CEO & Executive Director, IL&FS Investment Managers Limited

Mysore Nagaraja - Co-Founder, Spartan Solutions (Moderator)

Want to have the opportunity to chat one on one with Dinesh Kanabar (KPMG), Mukund Mohan (Microsoft Accelerator), Rajesh Sawhney (GSF Accelerator) and Alok Kejriwal (Games2Win)?! WIEF Coffee Chats open soon! Coffee chats will only be open to WIEF attendees so get your tickets now! Get your tickets at http://bit.ly/1atL6ux

Is Facebook's buyout of Bangalore based startup Little Eyes Labs a signal of growing western interests in Indian startups?
Learn more about the Indian startup environment from Rajesh Sawhney, founder of GSF Accelerator and investor in Little Eye Labs, at WIEF's Entrepreneurship and VC panel. Get your tickets now!http://bit.ly/1atL6ux