Mr. Ajit Thomas holds a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics. He is an Industrialist and the Promoter Chairman of the Company. He has expertise in business and management with AVT Group of Companies for about three decades.

Mr. M M Venkatachalam resides at 10 Valliammai Achi Road, Kotturpuram, Chennai 600 085. He holds a B.Sc. in Agriculture from The University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, and an MBA from The George Washington University. His educational background has provided him with a strong foundation in both agricultural sciences and business management.

Since March 2011, Mr. Venkatachalam has been a Director at Parry Agro Industries Limited, one of India’s leading tea producers. The company boasts estates across all major tea-growing regions in the country, including Sheikalmudi, Murugalli, Paralai, and Iyerpadi in the Anamallais of Tamil Nadu; Attikunna and Carolyn in the Nilgiris; and Deckiajuli in Assam. These estates produce some of India’s most renowned signature teas.

In February 2018, Mr. Venkatachalam became a Director at EID Parry (I) Ltd, a company with a rich history dating back to its founding in 1788. EID Parry has been a household name for over 235 years and is notable for setting up India’s first sugar plant at Nellikuppam in 1842. The company continues to break new ground in its various business ventures.

EID Parry is one of India’s leading sugar manufacturers, operating six sugar plants and one standalone distillery across South India. With a combined sugarcane crushing capacity of 40,300 TCD, a co-generation capacity of 140 MW, and a distillery capacity of 417 KLPD, their state-of-the-art facilities are located in Nellikuppam, Pugalur, and Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu, Sankili in Andhra Pradesh, and Bagalkot, Haliyal, and Ramdurg in Karnataka.

In addition to its leadership in sugar manufacturing, EID Parry is also a pioneer in the Nutraceuticals space, particularly in the production of organic spirulina and micro-algal products. Their ‘Parry’s Spirulina’ product, which holds three major international certifications, is sold in over 41 countries. The company’s highly specialized nutraceutical manufacturing plants are located in Oonaiyur and Saveripuram in Tamil Nadu. Furthermore, EID Parry has a significant presence in the refined sugar and farm inputs sectors through its subsidiaries, Parry Sugar Refinery India Pvt. Ltd. and Coromandel International Limited.

Ranganath N Krishna is an Independent Director & Consultant with over 40 years of experience across multiple sectors. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai, and has completed his management education at XLRI Jamshedpur. Over the course of his career, he has gained extensive expertise in areas such as marketing, sales and service, design, project management, finance, human resources, business strategy, and general management.

Ranganath has significant experience in the manufacture of boilers, burners, incinerators, pollution control, and energy recovery equipment. Additionally, he has played a key role in setting up small captive power plants and high-tension transmission lines in the Middle East. His international exposure is vast, having worked with people from over thirty countries and traveled to more than fifty countries.

For 22 years, Ranganath was the CEO and Managing Director of Grundfos Pumps India. His leadership at Grundfos focused not only on establishing the company’s sales, service network, and production facilities but also on building brand equity and creating a responsive service infrastructure. Notably, Grundfos India was the first in the world to develop a service app aimed at improving service delivery and actively tracking complaints. Today, Grundfos is widely recognized for its sustainable practices related to life cycle costs, energy efficiency, and water conservation. Ranganath also served as a lead assessor for talent centers and conducted EFQM business excellence audits during his time at Grundfos.

Since retiring from Grundfos on March 31, 2020, Ranganath has continued to lend his expertise as a board member for several companies, including L&T Valves Ltd., Smart Joules Pvt. Ltd., Ganga STP Project Pvt. Ltd., Cognizant Foundation, and La Gajjar Machineries Pvt. Ltd. He is also on the advisory board of NGOs focused on education (Madhi Foundation) and mental health (The Banyan). He retired as an independent director from two listed companies, Indian Terrain Fashions Ltd. and Celebrity Fashions Ltd., in March 2024.

Ranganath has been actively involved in leadership roles across various associations. He is a Past President of the Madras Management Association, a Past Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and of AEEE (Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy). His areas of focus have been water, energy, education, and skill development.

Furthermore, he has been a part of the CII National Committee on Skill Development, the CII National Committee on Water, and has contributed to the national committees on CSR, sustainability, and manufacturing.