Mr. Mahendra Chouhan is a seasoned business professional with more than 23 years of Board level experience as an independent director of both listed and unlisted companies, within and outside India. He served as founding Chairman of Fino Payment Bank and oversaw the bank’s successful IPO. Currently he sits on the boards of multiple listed companies as independent Director. In 2024, he was appointed Distinguished Professor – Executive Education at the Indian Institutes of Management Mumbai (IIM-M).
In addition to his general management expertise, Mahendra is an established thought leader in areas of corporate governance, sustainability, ESG and the SDGs. He is certified as a trainer for boards of directors from the Global Corporate Governance Forum, IFC (World Bank Group), and has conducted several board retreats and trained many board members. Mr. Chouhan has been a Consultant to IFC and has been their nominee Director on several companies. His experience, including past board affiliations, spans diverse sectors, including banking, financial services, housing finance, education finance, online B2B services, exhibition & trade fair, manufacturing, capital goods, and pharmaceuticals.
He is Managing Director of Mahendra & Ardneham Consulting (P) Ltd, an established board advisory consulting company, which advises companies on Board constitution and charters, building board cohesion, enhancing board effectiveness, and board evaluation. He also advises on how to improve business performance by embedding sustainability & ESG in corporate strategy.
Mr. Chouhan is an institution builder and spends a considerable amount of his time for non-profit activities. He is Chairman of Mahendra & Young Knowledge Foundation and Vice Chairman, Global Advisory Board, Asian Centre for Corporate Governance & Sustainability.
He is also a board member of IMC Chamber of Commerce & Industry, India. He is former President of the Bombay Management Association.
He has previously served on several policy making and regulatory committees such as SEBI Committee on Corporate Governance as well as the Ministry of Corporate Affairs Committee for the National Policy on Corporate Governance.
Prof. Chouhan is a visiting faculty at business schools such as Jamanlal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, and the International Law school at Tilburg University, The Netherlands. He has also taught at IIT Mumbai, Shailesh J Mehta School of Management (SJMSOM).
Mr. Chouhan brings special expertise in the area of corporate governance, sustainability & ESG strategy, including reporting. He is a member of the Integrated Reporting & Connectivity Council (IRCC). The IRCC is an advisory body to the IFRS Foundation Trustees, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), providing guidance on how reporting required by the IASB and the ISSB could be integrated, and how the IASB and the ISSB could consider applying principles and concepts from the Integrated Reporting Framework to their projects. He is also member of the Independent Appointment Committee (IAC) of GRI, Amsterdam. The IAC is a 5-member global committee responsible for selecting members of the GSSB – Global Sustainability Standards Board – the independent governance board responsible for the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. Mr. Chouhan is also a member of the Global Board of International Institute of Governance and Leadership (IIGL), The Netherlands.
He relies on yoga for his spiritual health, tennis & golf for his physical health.