Suma Venkatesh
Executive Vice President – Real Estate & Development
IHCL
IHCL
Suma Venkatesh has more than three decades of experience across Real Estate Development, Project
Management, Technical Services, Mergers & Acquisitions, Asset Management, Infrastructure Finance
and Advisory services having handled CXO roles for over a decade. Her experience spans across Banking,
Real Estate and Hospitality sectors and she has been a part of the Board of Directors of subsidiary/JV
companies for over 3 years.
In her current role as Executive Vice President, Real Estate and Development at IHCL, she is responsible
for the company's growth though greenfield hotel developments, acquisitions, licenses and
management contracts with third party developers/owners, handling the design and execution of these projects besides asset management with a view to profit maximization of the existing portfolio of hotels.
Her achievements in the current role include acquisition of the Tree of Life portfolio and 'The Claridges
Collection' brand, successful delivery of projects worth Rs. 5000+ Crores, driving a 2.5x growth in the
company's portfolio with 100+ hotels successfully opened over the last 8 years resulting in Management
Fee earnings of ~ Rs. 600 Cr for the company in the last financial year.
Suma started her professional career as a Design Engineer in a steel company, Mukund Ltd, designing electrical controls and systems for Steel Plant Equipment before pursuing her degree in Management. She was handpicked from campus by ICICI, the largest private development financial institution, to be part of the advisory team working with the Government of India on privatization of the Infrastructure Sectors under the aegis of World Bank. She worked across different functions within ICICI Bank spanning advisory and lending to large infrastructure projects within the country, where her responsibilities covered appraising, structuring of limited recourse financing for telecom projects including loan syndication, negotiations with sponsors and legal documentation. Post a successful stint of 7 years in ICICI Bank, she took on the role of the Chief Financial Analyst with a US Company, Portman Overseas and worked across numerous real estate projects in India and China, where she was responsible for pre- feasibility analysis, financial modelling & structuring and fund raising for new developments and acquisitions. Later, in 2002, she moved on to the hospitality sector, to work with IHCL where she has handled Development, Technical Services, Asset Management, and Projects. She is also actively involved in mentoring young women executives and championing various D&I and ESG initiatives within her organization. She believes in the process of continuous learning and has attended courses conducted at Stanford Business School and IIM Ahmedabad.
Suma has studied B.E. (Electrical) from the Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (VJTI) and a Masters in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) in Mumbai. She has received numerous awards for Academic Excellence and Professional Accomplishments including the IIPT Global Award for Women Leaders at Internationale Tourismus-Borse (1TB) Berlin. Suma continues to pursue her varied interests viz. music, dance, watching world movies, learning new languages and travel to discover new cultures and local art forms. She does yoga and functional training to keep herself physically fit and enjoys solving puzzles and sudoko to keep her mind sharp and recharged.
Suma started her professional career as a Design Engineer in a steel company, Mukund Ltd, designing electrical controls and systems for Steel Plant Equipment before pursuing her degree in Management. She was handpicked from campus by ICICI, the largest private development financial institution, to be part of the advisory team working with the Government of India on privatization of the Infrastructure Sectors under the aegis of World Bank. She worked across different functions within ICICI Bank spanning advisory and lending to large infrastructure projects within the country, where her responsibilities covered appraising, structuring of limited recourse financing for telecom projects including loan syndication, negotiations with sponsors and legal documentation. Post a successful stint of 7 years in ICICI Bank, she took on the role of the Chief Financial Analyst with a US Company, Portman Overseas and worked across numerous real estate projects in India and China, where she was responsible for pre- feasibility analysis, financial modelling & structuring and fund raising for new developments and acquisitions. Later, in 2002, she moved on to the hospitality sector, to work with IHCL where she has handled Development, Technical Services, Asset Management, and Projects. She is also actively involved in mentoring young women executives and championing various D&I and ESG initiatives within her organization. She believes in the process of continuous learning and has attended courses conducted at Stanford Business School and IIM Ahmedabad.
Suma has studied B.E. (Electrical) from the Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (VJTI) and a Masters in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) in Mumbai. She has received numerous awards for Academic Excellence and Professional Accomplishments including the IIPT Global Award for Women Leaders at Internationale Tourismus-Borse (1TB) Berlin. Suma continues to pursue her varied interests viz. music, dance, watching world movies, learning new languages and travel to discover new cultures and local art forms. She does yoga and functional training to keep herself physically fit and enjoys solving puzzles and sudoko to keep her mind sharp and recharged.