Expert Panel

V. K. Garg is one of the country’s best known indirect tax advisors. An MBA (IIMA), LLB and a former IRS Officer, he comes with more than 30 years of experience in Central Board of Excise and Customs. As former JS TRU, he is credited with a number of path breaking reforms. He was closely involved in GST discussions for three years in the Empowered Committee of State FMs and has travelled to many international GST/ VAT regimes.

He has held several important positions in CBEC and outside: PS to Union Minister of Law, Justice & Company affairs & OSD to Chairman CBEC & field positions in Service Tax, Excise, Customs, DRI & DGCEI.

He is guiding the implementation of GST at the Reliance Group in a fully automated environment besides guiding the Group in the entire sphere of indirect taxes

He is also a recipient of President of India Award for Distinguished Service in 1999 and Union FM’s commendations in 1986 and 1989.

Deepak, a former IRS Officer is an Indirect tax professional with a natural flair for law. A Gold Medallist from Punjab University Faculty of Laws, he served for 3 years in CESTAT as Departmental Representative arguing some of the key cases against the very best. From DRI to TRU to Customs to Central Excise and Service Tax he comes with versatility of experience. As a part of TRU, specifically inducted for the Negative List project, he was closely involved in writing of the Education Guide on the Negative List of services.

He is recipient of Finance Minister’s Gold Medal for Best Probationer of his batch of IRS and North Zone Kar Samman Award, 1999

Arvind is a widely respected Central Excise industry expert. He heads the complex Central Excise & Service Tax compliance function for more than 10 manufacturing sites & innumerable depots at Reliance Industries Ltd. He is associated with Reliance for last 21 years and has valuable expertise in areas related to textiles, petrochemicals, petroleum refinery and FMCG business. He has handled several complex litigations over the years and also appeared himself in number of cases. He is a key member in planning & business strategy team responsible for GST implementation in Reliance Group. He is a member of Indirect Tax Committee of Indian Merchant Chambers and Regional Advisory Committee for Excise under Chief Commissioner, Excise & Service Tax, Mumbai.

Om is an IIMA graduate and a former Officer of the Indian Trade Service (1991 batch). An expert in EXIM, SEZ and trade policy matters, he also holds a Diploma in International Trade Management from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. As a member managing committee and regular advisor to FIEO, he participates in many critical discussions with Ministry of Commerce. His log of valuable experience includes formulation and implementation of Foreign Trade Policy, handling WTO related issues especially WTO negotiations on agriculture. He has also worked on negotiations for SAFTA, Sri Lanka and Singapore FTAs during his tenure with Agriculture Ministry.

M. K. Gupta is one of the most respected experts in field of indirect taxes with in-depth expertise in Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax. As an IRS Officer (1977 batch), his canvas of very valuable experience includes stint as Vice Chairman of the Settlement Commission; Director General (Audit) CBEC; Chief Commissioner of Customs, Kolkata; Commissioners of Customs, Delhi and Mumbai; 10 years in Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), Delhi and Mumbai; 5 years as Director Central Excise in CBEC; JDR in CESTAT.

He was the Chairman of the Study Group for drafting a Common Code for Service Tax and Central Excise laws in view of the impending GST, which made far reaching recommendations on Cenvat and other reforms.

He is also a recipient of Presidential Award, 1989 for distinguished record of service.

R. K. Singh is a former tax bureaucrat with the flair of a career diplomat and incisive mind of a Judge. He has had a highly illustrious and distinguished career as an IRS Officer (1981 Batch). A Gold Medalist in BSc, MSc (Physics) at AMU Aligarh, he capped his academics with a Master’s Degree in Development Administration from Carleton University, Ottawa. In CBEC, he has held very important positions: Chief Commissioner Ahmedabad, ADG, DRI, Commissioner Central Excise Delhi, and also as an envoy in New York. As Member of CESTAT, he has to his credit many trend setting landmark judgments.

He is the winner of Finance Minister’s Gold Medal, Certificate of distinguished service from the FBI, US Customs and World Customs Organization and the Presidential award.

Sushil is a renowned expert in indirect taxes. A former IRS officer of 1985 batch, he has served for three decades in CBEC and was associated in drafting the Service Tax law in 1994, introduction of Audit (EA 2000 audit system), and formulation of GST structure and processes. One of the first Commissioners of Service Tax of Mumbai he was instrumental in providing lead guidance to implementation of Service Tax in India. He is also a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

A recipient of the Presidential Award in the year 2001, he is presently working as Partner in, M/s. TLC Legal a renowned law firm of Mumbai in the field of Indirect Taxes.

Arindam has a Master degree in Commerce. He is an is an experienced and accomplished Indirect tax Manager with over 35 years of experience in developing and implementing tax systems, strategies, processes and controls that significantly improves compliance level, value creation & optimization . He is a critical thinker and having excellent understanding on Excise & Service Tax laws. He is working as Vice President - Indirect Taxation, heading various service entities. Previously worked as head of Indirect Taxation in various manufacturing locations.

Jayesh is a commerce graduate & member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He has close to 29 years of extensive industry experience in the area of plant accounts, marketing finance, system development & State level taxes. He played key role in automation of credit availment when VAT was introduced. He has specialization in the area of State Taxes with expertise in state incentive schemes.

Mahesh Joshi is a VAT expert at Reliance Industries Ltd. since 2005 and is a creative and strategic specialist in indirect taxation policy making.

Prior to joining Reliance, he held the position of Additional Secretary, Taxation, Finance Department and has prepared blue-print for introduction of VAT, VAT law, taxation budgets & taxation laws for Gujarat govt. for 16 years. He has contributed immensely in the VAT discussions at the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers.

He was a member of several committees of GOI for various indirect tax reforms including service tax. He was also member of the committees for determining principles for compensation for introduction of VAT, CST reforms, stamp duty reforms, etc. He is Honorary Consultant, Foundation for Public Economics & Policy Research, New Delhi. He has also worked as Deputy Secretary, Industries Dept. and Director of Accounts & Treasuries, Gujarat.

Amruta has a master’s degree in Commerce and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. She has 10 years of experience in the areas of system developments for Indirect Taxation, VAT and Service Tax. She was actively engaged in the business transformation process of Service Tax Module in Reliance. She is currently involved in advising various businesses of Reliance in service tax matters.

Vishal has two decades of experience in handling entire gamut of Indirect Taxation i.e. Excise, Service Tax, Customs & DGFT. He has worked with major business houses likes Aditya Birla Group, JSW Steel & Hindustan Unilever. He is a commerce graduate & has qualified PGDBM (NMIMS). He is presently working with Reliance Industries Ltd. for past 2 years and handling Excise & Service Tax Operations of RIL’s manufacturing business including service companies associated with manufacturing operations. He is a key member of GST Core Committee responsible for planning & implementation of GST in Reliance.

Srinivas Raghavan has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and also the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

He has close to 27 years of industry experience, with specialisation in areas of indirect taxation related to the petroleum industry, both on the upstream and downstream. His areas of expertise include structuring business models and arrangements in a tax compliant and tax efficient manner, advisory services to business on critical issues relating to indirect taxes, profit improvement opportunities, etc.

Snehal is a commerce and law graduate from Mumbai University having two decades of experience in the field of State taxes such as Value Added Tax, Entry Tax, etc. He has worked on implementation of transition from Sales Tax to VAT, automation of all India VAT compliance. Currently, he is working with Reliance for GST implementation in the organization.

Sanjay has over 25 years’ experience in the field of corporate and factory accounts and Indirect Taxation. Having worked with various corporate houses in different capacities, he is presently working for Reliance Industries.

Besides speaking at different forums on topics of professional interest, he has authored book on Corporate Social Responsibility in India published by Response Books (Sage Publications Inc.) and Taxation of Works Contracts in India published by Wolters Kluwer.

He is a regular contributor of articles in prestigious journals on a wide range of issues of topical interest. His name has also been included by ICAI in panel of faculties on GST.

Vivek has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

He has 10 years of experience in the field of Excise and Service Tax. His areas of expertise include structuring business models in a tax compliant and tax efficient manner, advisory services to business on various issues related to Excise and Service tax, etc.