Board of Directors

Nalin Jayaraj Welgama is a senior Accountant having managed a leading firm of Chartered Accountants in the United Kingdom for several years prior to embarking upon an entrepreneurial function as founder Chairman of Ideal Group. He conceptualized and founded Ideal Plant and Vehicles Ltd UK in 1986, a company engaged in the worldwide export of luxury motor vehicles, contractors plant and machinery from the UK.

In 1996, with the formation of Ideal Automotive parts (pvt) Ltd., the seeds were sewn for the establishment of the group which at present comprises of 20 companies, each of which are playing a leading role in their respective business segments. The group has diversified in to passenger cars, commercial vehicles, heavy machinery, motor cycles, import and distribution of Tyres, financial services, automotive parts and renewable energy, and constitutes a combined turnover in excess of LKR20 Bn annually and employs over 1000 people.

He was able to realize his dream of becoming the first Sri Lankan company to partner a world renowned auto major in setting up a fully-fledged auto assembly plant which was launched in August 2019. Mahindra Ideal Lanka Private Ltd, was born to offer a selection of locally assembled vehicles to the Sri Lankan market.

Nalin J. Welgama is the youngest son of the renowned philanthropist entrepreneur Mr. S A Welgama whose name is synonymous with road haulage (transport) in Sri Lanka, a company whose origins date back to 1931

An all-time legend on the cricket field, Aravinda De Silva is the only cricketer in the world to have scored a century and taken three wickets at a Cricket World Cup. This was in 1996. He is currently an advisor to Sri Lanka Cricket.

He retired at the pinnacle of his career in 2003 and infused the combination of his passion for automobiles and keen acumen in cricket to establish and become co-partner of the Ideal Group of Companies in 2005. The success of the Group has been phenomenal with the Group venturing into numerous business sectors including automotive vehicles and tyres, green energy solutions, finance and real estate. The Group represents global giant in automotives Mahindra & Mahindra.

His experience as a business strategist in Mergers & Acquisitions and as a venture capital investor in tech start-ups is renowned.

In 2017, he was appointed Chairman of Thomas Cook Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, an investment by Fairbridge Capital Canada, which is a strategic investor in Fairfirst Insurance and Nations Trust Bank, Sri Lanka.

Ms. Chrishanthi Lucilla Jayewardene is an Attorney-At Law with over 30 years of post-qualification experience. She commenced her carrier at M/s F.J & G De Sarams Attorney At Law. Thereafter she joined the National Development Bank and was a member of the Senior Management Team.

Currently she is serving as a Consultant at the Urban Development Authority. Ms. Jayewardene is a member of the Association of Development Finance Institutions in Asia and Pacific. She has also held Directorships in several Companies.

We are pleased to inform the appointment of Mr Mufaddal Choonia to the Board of Directors of Mahindra Ideal Finance as a Non – Independent, Non-Executive Director with effect from 25th February 2022.

As Vice President – Emerging Asian Markets at Mahindra Finance, Mufaddal is responsible for leading Mahindra Finance’s expansion into Asian Markets and to ensure the planned financial returns on the company’s investments through a direct P&L responsibility for the businesses in these markets. He has been the anchor for Mahindra Finance’s investment in Sri Lanka through the joint venture in Mahindra Ideal Finance Limited (MIFL) and now sits on MIFL’s Board as Non – Executive Director.

Before joining Mahindra Finance, Mufaddal served as the Chief Executive Officer of Mahindra Racing SpA, an Italian subsidiary of the Mahindra Group, involved in the business of designing and manufacturing high-performance racing motorcycles. Mahindra Racing was the only Indian company that developed these motorcycles in house at its own, exclusive racing development center near Milan, in Italy. He served as the CEO and Director of Mahindra Racing, Italy from 2012 to 2019.

Mufaddal started his career in the Mahindra Group in 1999 after passing from NITIE, one of India’s leading business schools. He has held various key positions in marketing and sales across the Automotive and Financial Services sectors of the Group. Mufaddal’ s first assignment in the Group as Brand Manager – Scorpio, saw him become part of the core team that developed & launched the iconic Scorpio. After gaining valuable experience in the automotive sector of the Group, he then moved on to spearhead the marketing function at Mahindra Finance, where he was responsible for launching the company’s first every integrated national marketing campaign. After a 2.5 year stint outside the Group with Emirates NBD Bank in Dubai, Mufaddal re – joined the Group in 2010 in the Group Strategy Office, where he worked with the business leaders of various Mahindra businesses and helped them develop their long-term business and growth strategies.

Mufaddal has extremely rich international experience of over a decade and is very widely traveled across the globe. His educational qualifications include a graduation in Automobile Engineering and post-graduation in Business Management from NITIE.

We are pleased to inform the appointment of Mr Vivek Karve to the Board of Directors of Mahindra Ideal Finance as a Non – Independent, Non-Executive Director with effect from 25th February 2022.

Vivek is a Chartered Accountant (1994), a Cost Accountant (1993) and a B. Com. from the University of Bombay (1991). He has more than 25 years of experience in sectors such as FMCG, Banking & Financial Services and IT across five organizations – Mahindra Finance, Marico, Siemens Information Systems, ICICI and P&G.

Vivek joined Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited as its CFO in September 2020. He also oversees the entire finance function for the Financial Services Sector under Mahindra Finance.

Prior to joining Mahindra Finance, Vivek worked as Group CFO of Marico. He joined Marico in 2000, as a Manager in Corporate Finance. He took over the charge as CFO of Marico Limited effective in April 2014. Over the years, he made significant contributions in the areas of performance management, investors relations, risk management, governance and controls. He has also played an active role in Marico’s M&A efforts through due diligence, deal structuring, funding etc.

In 2017, he was recognized as the 2nd Best CFO by Institutional Investor, a reputed magazine for Investors. In 2018, Financial Express recognized him as the Best CFO in Large Enterprise Category.

Vivek has served as a member of FICCI’s Corporate Finance Committee. He is currently a member of FICCI’s CFO Conclave.

Raul is a career banker with extensive experience in the domain of Rural Banking and Financial Inclusion. Prior to joining Mahindra Finance, he was with Axis Bank as EVP & Head – Rural Lending & Financial Inclusion.

Over nearly 2 decades with Axis Bank, he led key businesses including Rural Lending, Farmer Funding, Gold Loans, MSME lending, Commodity Loans, Tractor & Farm Equipment Lending, Agri-Value chain Deposits, Payments & Insurance. He also led the Business correspondent channel including 15,000+ partner outlets and the Micro-ATM channel of the Bank. He played a pivotal role to increase the Banks Distribution in Rural and Semi –Urban areas through light format Banking outlets, Micro-ATMs, and Rural ecosystem partnerships.

He is credited with several transformational interventions viz. introducing various end-to-end digital initiatives and paperless loan journeys for low-income households, besides launching suitable phygital tools and customer journeys including Aadhar Pay. Under his leadership, Axis Bank has won the prestigious Financial Inclusion Award at the Asian Banking and Finance Awards in 2019 and 2021.

Raul is a member of CII National Council on Agriculture since FY19 and serves as an Advisory Board Member on the Expert Committee for Agriculture & Food Processing of Bombay Chambers of Commerce and Industry since 2017.

He is a Postgraduate in Management from the Goa Institute of Management.