Rajendra S Pawar
Non-Executive Chairman
Rajendra Singh Pawar is Non-Executive Chairman of the Company.
He is also the Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of NIIT Limited, a global leader in skills and talent development, and founder of the not-for-profit NIIT University, established with a vision of being the role model of learning, research, innovation and sustainability for the Knowledge Society.
Under his leadership, NIIT has played a key role in shaping the growth of the Indian IT sector by creating skilled manpower to drive its momentum. Having revolutionized the IT Training industry, he is now involved in establishing an innovative model in Higher Education, the of the not-for-profit NIIT University. He is also a member of the Governing body of not-for-profit NIIT Foundation, which addresses the skilling and livelihood needs of youth from the underserved segments of society.
Mr. Pawar did his early schooling in Jammu. Then moved to The Scindia School, Gwalior, and from there to IIT Delhi.
Acknowledging Mr. Pawar’s contribution to the IT industry in India, he was awarded the country’s prestigious civilian honor, Padma Bhushan, by the President of India in 2011.
Mr. Pawar served as a member of the Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development (2009-2014) and has also been a part of the PM’s National Taskforce (1998), commissioned to develop India into an IT Superpower. Actively involved in India’s key Chambers of Commerce, Mr. Pawar has led several ICT industry fora, including the National Association of Software & Service Companies (NASSCOM) as its Chairman in 2011-12.
Mr. Pawar was the Chairman of the NASSCOM Cyber Security Task Force that was set up in response to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to see India emerge as a global hub of cyber security products and services. He was also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Data Security Council of India (DSCI).
Mr. Pawar’s contributions have been widely acknowledged, and he has been conferred prestigious awards like the Distinguished Alumnus Award at IIT Delhi in 1995; the ‘IT Man of the Year’ by the IT industry journal Dataquest in 1998; ‘Master Entrepreneur of the Year’ by Ernst & Young in 1999; the Madhav Award in 1999 at the Scindia School, Gwalior; an Honorary Doctoral Degree by the Rajiv Gandhi Technical University in 2005; the Maharaja Gulab Singh Award in 2006; the Lifetime Achievement ICT Award 2019 by Dataquest; and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022 by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). He is a Fellow of the Computer Society of India and is a Distinguished Fellow of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineers.
Mr. Pawar was on the Founding Board of Shree Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra. He is on the Executive Board of India’s premier Institutions – the Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad and the Board of Governors of Scindia School. He served as the Vice Chairman of the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) Governing body. He has also served on the boards of IIT Delhi, IIM Bangalore, and IIM Udaipur and has been a member of the University Court of Delhi University.
