Ms Kalpana Unadkat

Ms Kalpana Unadkat (55 years) is an experienced Independent Director with over a decade of boardroom experience and more than 25 years of cross-border legal and governance expertise. Ms Kalpana is a dual-qualified solicitor (India and UK) and was a senior partner at Khaitan & Co. and a former Co-Head of Ashurst’s India Practice (London).

Ms Kalpana specialises in cross border joint ventures and M&As (international and domestic), and corporate governance laws and offers practical solutions to clients on doing business in India. She is experienced in leading diverse teams in dynamic environments while achieving success in competitive markets.

She currently serves as an independent director on the boards of Avenue Supermarts Ltd (DMart), TVS Credit Services Ltd, and Eris Lifesciences Ltd.

As a leading international M&A lawyer and former Co-Head of the India Practice at Ashurst, Kalpana has helped corporates at critical inflection points in their growth journeys.

Ms Kalpana is recognised for her ability to bridge governance create strategic execution, she enables sustainable long-term value creation and strengthens organisational resilience is a mentor to senior executives and she has delivered numerous governance workshops and co-authored research on Women on Boards.

Kalpana is a well-recognised expert on Corporate Governance principles. She also advises on board effectiveness, particularly around issues of corporate governance, leadership, organisational climate and decision-making. She has led several workshops and trained more than 200 directors with a comprehensive approach to director development.

She regularly acts for international companies and is recognised in independent guides as one of the leading lawyers.

Ms Kalpana has been recognized and honoured with various awards including the Trailblazer, Women Achiever Awards 2023 by FICCI FLO, Corporate Governance Lawyer for India and Corporate Governance Lawyer of the Year Award in year 2018 & 2019, The Rising Women of the Year Award in 2019 by Economic Times and Spencer Stuart; Female Lawyer of the year, Women in Law Awards and Women Super Achiever Award in year 2017.