Board of Directors

Mr. Sebastian Paeßens (DIN: 09058693), aged 52 years, is the CFO of DHL E-Commerce Solutions, a business division of Germany-based Deutsche Post DHL Group. Mr. Sebastian Paeßens started his professional career as a management consultant for finance and controlling-related projects.

Mr. Sebastian Paeßens joined Deutsche Post DHL Group in 2008 and held various management positions in the DHL Express Division, the German Post and Parcel Division, and in the Corporate Controlling Department. In October 2017, he assumed the role of CFO, DHL E-Commerce. In October 2018, Mr. Sebastian Paeßens was appointed as CFO, DHL E-Commerce and DHL Parcel Europe, before moving on to his current role in January 2019.

He is a member of Deutsche Post DHL Group's Finance Board. Mr. Sebastian holds a Master of Science degree in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering.

Mr. Sebastian Paeßens had also served as a Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director on the Board of Blue Dart Express Ltd from February 24, 2021, to August 23, 2024.

Mr. Balfour Manuel, a Blue Dart veteran of over 35 years, has been instrumental in the success of Blue Dart from the very beginning of the company’s inception. A longtime employee of the company, Mr. Balfour Manuel, prior to his appointment as CEO, was Senior Vice President in charge of Blue Dart’s business-to-business customers, a cornerstone of Blue Dart’s customer base. Prior to this, he also held a key general management position where he was responsible for the growth and development of Blue Dart’s business in the western region in India. Mr. Balfour Manuel holds a master’s in business management in marketing from the University of Mumbai.

Mr. R. S. Subramanian is currently the Senior Vice President and Country Manager for OHL Express India Private Limited, and a member of the OHL Asia Pacific Management Board. With over 25 years of experience, he has extensive knowledge in sales, strategy, and marketing.

Mr. Subramanian joined OHL Express as the Head of Sales, subsequently moving on to the position of Vice President, ROSA (Rest of South Asia), wherein he was handling OHL Express operations in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, and Bhutan. He assumed the role of Country Manager in 2010 for the business in India and successfully led several key projects.

Mr. Subramanian holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and a Master’s in Management from IIM Bangalore. Prior to OHL, he spent 14 years with Hindustan Unilever Ltd. in a variety of sales and marketing roles. He is Gold Certified in First Choice, which is Deutsche Post DHL’s internal quality programme based on the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology.

Dr. Vandana Aggarwal, aged 65 years, has been a career civil servant and economist for about 36 years. Dr. Vandana joined the Indian Economic Service in 1986 after her studies at the University of London and University of Delhi, including Lady Shri Ram College for Women, the Delhi School of Economics, and the Department of Financial Studies & Business Economics. Her Ph.D. thesis was on investment and regulatory aspects of deep-sea mining.

Dr. Vandana last served as Senior Economic Adviser (Additional Secretary) in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. She handled key reforms and policy formulation, implementation of schemes, and economic regulation, as well as security and crisis management (including the COVID-19 pandemic). She has also served on the boards of directors of central public corporates and councils such as AAI Cargo Logistics & Allied Services Ltd. (AAICLAS) and Aerospace and Aviation Sector Skill Council (AASSC).

In a large and diverse developing country like India, Dr. Vandana has worked in various central government ministries (Civil Aviation, Finance, Commerce, Industry, Cabinet Secretariat, Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Planning Commission, Ninth Finance Commission, and the Permanent Mission of India to the World Trade Organisation) handling core reforms in India across industry, infrastructure, trade, and taxation sectors, implementation of schemes, economic regulation, climate change matters, as well as national security and crisis management.

Dr. Vandana is currently serving on some high-level governmental bodies, as member, Advisory Committee on Maritime Studies and also as lead expert for course consolidation, both at the Indian Maritime University and as chairperson of various committees for seeding greenfield businesses at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India's GIFT-City, such as aircraft as well as ship acquisitions, leasing and financing under projects Rupee Raftaar and Safal respectively. She is also a member on the Advisory Committee of the AirCargo Forum India, a non-profit, non-governmental, nationwide trade and logistics forum.

Dr. Vandana Aggarwal is on the board of Blue Dart Aviation Ltd. since October 27, 2022.

Mr. Rajat Kumar Jain is a Gurgaon based corporate leader turned startup enthusiast who is on the social journey of creating India’s leading open architecture mentoring platform and accelerator for deserving startups, to get early stage business support and capital. An IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, he founded PadUp Ventures in 2015 along with his partner Mr. Pankaj Thakar, who is a technology startup expert, from MIT and Harvard. PadUp is focussed on providing deep mentoring services to early-stage tech startups in India to help them survive and scale, to drive INNOVATION and create value.

After a 30+ years career in Corporate India in leadership roles, Mr.Rajat now performs a few Non-Executive roles including Chairing the Fino Payments Bank Board and being an Independent Director on the Boards of Vodafone Idea, Mahindra Holidays and EMA Partners India. 

He also works with SME’s supporting their growth and transformation journeys. He is also a trustee on the Board of the globally well known Make a Wish Foundation (India), as well as Braj Foundation, an NGO focussed on environment and water conservation and an Advisor to the E&H Foundation, working for the education and health of underprivileged kids in Uttar Pradesh.

In his corporate career, he has worked in the FMCG, media & entertainment, technology and telecom sectors in India, both at young stage companies and MNCs like Unilever, Sony, Walt Disney and Xerox. His last roles were MD of Xerox India and MD of Disney India before he started his social journey in 2015. His key areas of expertise include distribution and sales, understanding consumers across various spaces, mentoring and working with teams and building and growing businesses that revolve around services & brands.

Mr. Avijit Mukerji is a Chartered Accountant, having overall experience of more than three decades in audit and assurance. He is a former senior partner of Price Waterhouse, member of PricewaterhouseCoopers Network Firms in India (PwC India). He held several leadership roles within PwC India including as a member of the PwC India Board, PwC India Leadership, Managing Partner of the Eastern Region as well as India Assurance Leadership. Currently, he is the founder and managing partner of TatvaSutra Solutions LLP, a boutique investment and equity research firm. He is also an Independent Director on the boards of Bandhan Financial Holdings Limited, Balaji Telefilms Limited and DIC India Limited and a Non-Executive - Nominee Director on the Board of Bandhan Bank Ltd. He serves as Member Board of Governors of Welham Girl’s School, Dehradun and is also the current President of The Bengal Club, Kolkata.

He is an experienced auditor leading audits of several marquee companies during his tenure as an audit partner with Price Waterhouse. He has a wide experience of audits ranging from large, listed companies, multinationals as well as Indian promoter companies and founder/startups. Further, during his tenure as the Transformation Leader, he was responsible for digital upskilling of 14,000 partners and staff again conceptualizing and implementing the firm’s flagship digital upskilling program Acing Digital.

Prior to the commencement of his professional career, he had a brilliant academic record securing ranks both in the Intermediate (AIR 12) and Final (AIR 21) examinations of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of India. He is a past Chairman of CII West Bengal and was also member of the executive committees of AMCHAM eastern region and Indian Chamber of Commerce.