Our speakers

Sivasubramanian Ramann, CMD, SIDBI

Smitha Shetty, Regional Director, APAC, Achilles Information Limited.

Smitha Shetty is a dynamic and influential leader with over 15 years of senior leadership and management expertise in the global SaaS industry. Currently serving as Regional Director for APAC at Achilles Information Ltd., a UK-headquartered company, she leverages her extensive knowledge and practical insights to drive supply chain due diligence and sustainable value chain process management.

In her current role, Smitha spearheads strategic initiatives across the APAC region, focusing on educating stakeholders about the critical importance of ESG considerations within the supply chain. She is passionate about leveraging technology to streamline and automate processes, making them more efficient and proactive.

Trained in SA8000 Internal Lead Auditing and NEBOSH health and safety protocols, with exposure to international quality standards, Smitha is a results-oriented professional dedicated to operational excellence. Her strategic mindset and proven track record instill confidence in her ability to deliver exceptional results.

Smt Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India

Ms. Mercy Epao is Joint Secretary in Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. Prior to the current posting, she has served Govt. of India in various capacities across the Ministries/ Departments for the past 25 years.   Some of her important postings inter alia are Ministries of Finance, Housing & Urban Affairs and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) etc. During her service, she handled different subjects viz. Agriculture and Allied Sector in DoNER, externally aided projects for the NER, Pay related matters, Cadre review of All India Service (AIS), works related HR and Administration.

She is a Post Graduate from Delhi University. As Joint Secretary she is in charge of implementation of various Schemes pertaining to Small and Medium Enterprises.  Some Schemes are the National SC/ST Hub Scheme, which is dedicated to support SC/ST entrepreneurs. The International Co-operation Scheme entails her to tie-up / negotiate / interact and enable MoUs / FTAs/ sharing and exchanging of best practices in the SME sector with other countries.  M/o MSME participates in Bilateral and Multilaterals Forums to strengthen the MSME sector through capacity building, technology intervention, G2G, B2B networking and explore possible partnership.

In the Ministry, she also looks after the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), National Institute of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (NiMSME), which is CPSE and an Autonomous Organization respectively.  She also handles Media vertical which gives wide coverage of the Schemes/initiatives of the Ministry on all Social Media Platforms. ‘Insider’ which is a monthly magazine is also brought out which is shared with all Udyam Registration holders.  For supporting the Women entrepreneurs, WEC has been set up to handhold women. Her passion is to see women and weaker / marginalized section entrepreneurs to attain knowledge for gainful employment and successful entrepreneurship which will lead to social upliftment and economic empowerment.

She has been given the additional charge of CMD, Director (Planning & Marketing) and Director (Finance) of NSIC until a regular incumbent is posted.

In addition, she also looks after coordination vertical in the Ministry which also handles Vision India @2047, Toy Manufacturers Hub, Swachhta Campaign.  She is also Director in the Board of few Autonomous Bodies.

Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, GOI

Sneha Shah, Deputy Editor, Mint (Moderator)

Som Satsangi, SVP and MD, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

SONAL KALRA, Chief Managing Editor, HT

Sonalde Desai, Distinguished University Professor Emerita, University of Maryland; Professor, National Council of Applied Economic Research

Sonalde Desai is Distinguished University Professor Emerita at University of Maryland College Park and leads the National Data Innovation Centre at NCAER, New Delhi. She is one of India’s most respected demographers, dealing primarily with social inequalities in developing countries. The India Human Development Survey, which she leads, is a pioneering large-scale national panel survey tracking changes in Indian society since 2004. Desai’s scholarly work has been published widely across the world. She also serves on several government committees such as the Steering Committee for NSS and Expert Committee on Benchmarking RBI Statistics. She was elected president of the Population Association of America in 2022. 

Sonali Jindal, Co-Founder and COO, Ring/ Kissht

Sonali Kulkarni, MD and Lead, Financial Services, Accenture in India