Mr. Rajendra S. Pawar is Chairman and co-founder of the NIIT Group, that encompasses two businesses—NIIT Technologies Limited, the software and services arm and NIIT Limited, the leading Global Talent Development Corporation. Set up in 1981, NIIT pioneered the computer education market in India, creating a completely new industry segment and taking it to consolidation and maturity. Mr. Pawar has played a leadership role in nurturing NIIT and building it into a leading Global Talent Development Corporation. By pioneering NIIT’s innovative franchising model, he enabled the company to unleash a wave of entrepreneurship across the globe, providing young people with the opportunity to create viable businesses centred on IT learning. Mr. Pawar led NIIT’s foray into the software and services market, creating NIIT Technologies, a global IT Solutions organization. Assessed at SEI-CMMi Level 5, NIIT Technologies serves clients across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Mr. Pawar is a member on the Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development; has served on the PM’s National Taskforce commissioned to develop India into an IT Superpower; is an advisor to the Hunan province of China; was a member of PIAC (Presidential International Advisory Council) of the Government of South Africa for IT. Actively involved in India’s key Chambers of Commerce, Mr. Pawar has led several ICT industry initiatives, giving voice to the sector’s aspirations and goals. He has been a Founder Member of NASSCOM (the National Association of Software & Service Companies). He is currently a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum. Global Business Intelligence firm, Ernst & Young conferred on Mr. Pawar its prestigious Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1999. He has also been named the IT man of the Year by IT industry journal, Dataquest. Pawar has been awarded ‘The Global India Splendor Award’ on the occasion of 60th year of India’s independence, for his work on developing human resource potential. He is a Fellow of the Computer Society of India and the Institution of Electronics & Telecom Engineers. Known for promoting industry-academia alliances, Mr. Pawar has been working closely with the country’s well-known educational institutions. He is on the Board of Governors of India’s premier institutions- IIT Delhi, country’s first global business school, the Indian School of Business, ISB Hyderabad, IIM Bangalore and the Scindia School. Mr. Pawar studied at the Scindia School, Gwalior and graduated from the country’s prestigious engineering institution, IIT, Delhi in 1972 where he pursued the B. Tech programme in electrical engineering and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT in 1995. He has also been awarded an Honorary Doctoral Degree by the Rajiv Gandhi Technical University in 2005. Having revolutionized the IT Training industry, Mr. Pawar is involved in establishing an innovative model in Higher Education. Currently a member of the Planning Commission’s Consultative Group on Higher Education, he is deeply engaged in shaping the not-for-profit NIIT University. This University has been set up with a vision of being the leading centre of innovation and learning in emerging areas of the Knowledge Society.
