Ravi Pandit
Ravi Pandit is the Co-founder & Group Chairman of KPIT Technologies and the K&P Group. His vision as the co-founder of KPIT has steered the company from its inception to achieving the leadership position the company holds today globally in the domain of automotive engineering.
Over the last 30+ years, KPIT, under Ravi’s leadership, has emerged as a premier establishment in its area of work. It services majority of global automotive leaders across the world. KPIT has now the unique ability to combine its deep industry & technology expertise, to effectively create an eco-system of ‘partners in growth’. This ecosystem includes its global automotive clients, alliances, investors, academic institutes and the exceptional KPIT talent family, all collectively and cohesively committed towards a better world.
Ravi is deeply passionate about social causes with special commitment towards our environment. Under his guidance, KPIT’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives have in the last 10+ years positively impacted over 2 million lives through 71 initiatives and created opportunities to innovate for over 75,000 students till date. Ravi’s commitment to environment also resulted in development of solutions for generation of hydrogen from biomass, indigenous development of hydrogen fuel cell and indigenous development of sodium ion batteries. KPIT has won global patents in all these domains for innovative and impactful solutions.
Ravi is also the Chairman of K&P Group which includes Kirtane and Pandit LLP, Chartered Accountants, a highly respected accounting firm. He has been a guiding force for the group for the last four decades.
He is a founder trustee of Janwani, a Pune based NGO which is focused on improvements in urban India. He is a founder trustee and treasurer of the Pune International Centre, a national level think tank working on policy issues. He is a director of the Aga Khan Rural Support Program (India). He is also on the board of WRI (World Resources Institute), India. Ravi also guides the Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD), an initiative of the reputed Gokhale Institute of Politics & Economics which he has co-funded. CSD is deeply engaged in developing solutions for the world to make it environmentally sustainable, socially acceptable and economically equitable. Ravi is also the President of Jnana Prabodhini, a highly respected Institution working with talented students for national development. Ravi is the Chairman of the Research Council of CEERI ( Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute, Pilani).
Ravi was a member of the core group on Automotive Research Program Committee (CAR), a Government of India initiative for the automotive industry, and was on the Technology Development Board formed by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. He has served as the president of the esteemed Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture and has been on the NASSCOM Executive Council twice. He also serves on the board of Thermax Limited.
Ravi’s thoughts for creating a better world are best expressed in his award- winning book “Leap frogging to pole vaulting: Creating the magic of radical yet sustainable transformation” that he has co- authored along with Dr. R. A. Mashelkar. He is a frequent contributor and participant at various national and international conferences. Widely respected for integrity, innovation and dynamism, Ravi has successfully set benchmarks in corporate governance, regional cooperation, and co-innovation. For his commitment to conducting business in an ethical manner and for the value KPIT partnership has brought to its partners like Cummins, Ravi has been honored with the J Irwin Miller Award of Excellence by Cummins. He has been awarded the prestigious Rotary Excellence Award for exemplary leadership and outstanding performance. Ravi has also been honored with the Maharashtra Corporate Excellence (MAXELL) Awards for Excellence in Entrepreneurship and additionally, for his contribution to the economic and industrial development of Pune City, he has been conferred with the prestigious Samata Award.
Ravi is a gold medalist and fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, an associate member of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India, and holds a masters degree from Sloan School of Management, MIT, Cambridge, USA. He was Awarded Honorary Doctorate in Technology by Prestigious Coventry University in recognition of his tremendous contribution to global technology and mobility sectors as well as his significant contribution in promoting UK-India business and academic relationships. In 2014, the well-known Tilak Maharashtra University decorated him with an honorary D.Litt. In 2022.
He is a voracious reader, an avid trekker and holds a warm corner in his heart for animals and birds. Ravi has been an avid bird photographer for the last two decades. He also enjoys listening to Indian classical music.
