Aravind Melligeri
Chairman & CEO, Aequs

Aravind Melligeri is the founder of Aequs. As the Chairman, he is laser focused on creating long-term value through innovative strategies. Aravind’s farsightedness and differentiated approach has led India to increase in-country value add and gain a competitive advantage.

Aravind believes that modern manufacturing is driven by two forces: continuous innovation and uninhibited collaboration. Over the last decade, he has built a vertically integrated aerospace ecosystem that drives scale and efficiency through co-located capabilities delivering end-to-end value streams. This unique ecosystem was awarded the prestigious “Global Airbus Innovation Award” in 2016 and recognized as the first of its kind in the world. With Aravind’s resolute leadership and strategic collaboration with global companies, Aequs quickly expanded its global footprint with operations in India, North America, and Europe and today the company is a preferred partner for global OEMs.

His passion for building economic engines for India’s future led to Aequs’ diversification into the consumer vertical in 2016. Today, Aequs is at the helm of developing and building India’s first 400-acre toy manufacturing ecosystem in Koppal, Karnataka, and India’s first sector-specific Consumer Durable Goods Cluster in Hubballi. It is his vision to transform India into a global manufacturing hub.

Aravind holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He has been the recipient of the ‘Young Achiever Award’ by the Indo-American Community and ‘Super Entrepreneur 2019’ award by The Machinist (India) magazine.


Dr. Ajay Prabhu
Board Member

Ajay is associated with Aequs since 2007 and is currently the COO of QuEST Global. Under his leadership, QuEST Global has grown from 200 employees to 7300 employees. He has played a pivotal role in QuEST Global’s foray into aero structures domain, which has led to some major business wins for the organization in the aerospace and defense sectors.

Ajay was working with HP & Agilent Technologies in California for six years before moving to QuEST Global. He has turned QuEST into a global company by setting up delivery centers in several cities of USA, Italy, Japan, India, UK, Australia and Spain. Ajay’s passion and commitment to excellence permeates through every facet of QuEST Global. His relentless drive to build a best-in-class company through delivery and people process excellence has resulted in several industry recognitions for QuEST Global. Ajay has designed a unique business process and institutionalized the rhythm that has resulted in scalability, predictability and enhanced customer and employee satisfaction.

With a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from NITK, Surathkal, India, Ajay holds MS & Ph.D. degrees from the University of Massachusetts, USA. His research work on very high frequency amplifiers was recognized with an award from the IEEE (Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Microwave Society Fellowship and he holds two US Patents.


Dr. Klaus Richter
Board Member

Klaus is a senior aerospace and automotive industry executive specializing in developing strategies for supply chain management, setting them up, and making them global.

The President designate of the Executive Board at German technology conglomerate, Diehl Stiftung GmbH & Co., has been an advisor to several companies and has held senior leadership and Board level positions in several multinational companies.

Klaus began his professional career in 1993 as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, working in automotive, aerospace, electric power, and automation industry verticals with a focus on development and operations. In 2003, he joined BMW, where he became the Head of Direct Materials Management.

In 2007 Klaus moved to Airbus, where he was part of the top executive leadership team. Until 2019, he was Chief Procurement Officer at Airbus SE and a member of Airbus’ Group Executive Committee. His responsibilities at Airbus covered procurement across the entire Airbus organization, sourcing parts, components, aircraft systems, services, and infrastructure reportedly valued at over €50 billion from 12,000 plus suppliers in over 100 countries. Simultaneously, Klaus served as managing director of Airbus Operations GmbH, Germany, and as president of the German Aerospace Industry Association BDLI (2017-2019).

Klaus is credited with introducing car-making strategies at Airbus and has extensive experience in strategic sourcing. He has advised numerous manufacturers on the challenges of configuration and demand. A champion of lean procurement, he holds a Ph.D. in Robotics from Technical University, Munich. He brings a wealth of experience in building, nurturing, and optimizing complex global supply chains to ever-changing business needs.


Rajeev Kaul
Chief Operating Officer, Aequs

Rajeev Kaul is COO & MD, Aequs, responsible for the overall operations and performance of various verticals in the group including Aerospace, Toys and Consumer Durable Goods.

He has been with Aequs since its inception, growing with the organization over the years and taking on important roles with varied profiles and responsibilities. He has been instrumental in setting up the country’s first aerospace manufacturing ecosystem putting India firmly on the global Aerospace supply chain map.

With 25 plus years of rich experience cutting across industry sectors, Rajeev has played a significant role in advancing Aequs’ presence in India setting up various lines of business and establishing Joint Ventures.

After bringing new capabilities to the global manufacturing ecosystem and transforming Belagavi into an aerospace hub for India, Rajeev is now working on setting up the country’s first Toy Manufacturing Cluster at Koppal in Karnataka. The unique project is expected to bring in a step change in the Indian toys industry creating thousands of jobs and capabilities in the sector and immensely benefiting people from the region.

Rajeev is also anchoring the setting up yet another unique project, the Hubballi Durable Goods Cluster, yet again a first in the country, to provide a manufacturing solution with scale and capabilities intended to make India a leader the Consumer Durable Goods domestic and export markets.

Rajeev also serves as a board member of the JV companies of Aequs. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Delhi University and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.


Dr. Shubhada M Rao
Board Member

Shubhada is the Founder of QuantEco, an independent lead research house specialising in delivering business economics and financial markets intelligence to corporates and investors. Prior to setting up QuantEco, she served as a Senior Group President & Chief Economist at YES Bank.

Shubhada brings with her over 30 years of experience in academia and industry. In her earlier stints, she worked as Chief Economist with marquee financial sector entities like Kotak Institutional Equities, CRISIL and Times Bank and as an Economist with the Risk Department at Bank of Baroda. She completed her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Mumbai.

In the past, she has held various positions with industry associations and think tanks such as the Bombay Chamber of Commerce, the CII National Economic Policy Council, ASSOCHAM, and as a Member of the Monetary Policy Group at the Indian Banks Association (IBA)

Shubhada has made extensive presentations on the Indian Economy to several central banks including the Federal Reserve, Bank of England, Bank of Canada, Ministers and delegations. Under her leadership her team was often ranked among top three forecasters on Indian economic indicators by Bloomberg and was cited as the top forecaster for currency in 2016 by Reuters.


Aravind Melligeri
Chairman & CEO, Aequs

Aravind Melligeri is the founder of Aequs. As the Chairman & CEO, he is laser focused on creating long-term value through innovative strategies; it has been a relentless, lifelong pursuit. Aravind’s farsightedness and differentiated approach has led India to increase in-country value add and gain a competitive advantage.

Aravind believes that modern manufacturing is driven by two forces: continuous innovation and uninhibited collaboration. Over the last decade, he has built a vertically integrated aerospace ecosystem that drives scale and efficiency through co-located capabilities delivering end-to-end value streams. This unique ecosystem was awarded the prestigious “Global Airbus Innovation Award” in 2016 and recognized as first of its kind in the world. With Aravind’s resolute leadership and strategic collaboration with global companies, Aequs quickly expanded its global footprint with operations in India, North America, and Europe and today, the company is a preferred partner for global OEMs.

His passion towards building economic engines for India’s future led to Aequs’ diversification into the consumer vertical in 2016. Today, Aequs is at the helm of developing and building India’s first ~400-acre toy manufacturing ecosystem in Koppal, Karnataka, and India’s first sector-specific Durable Goods Cluster in Hubballi. It is his vision to transform India into a global manufacturing hub.

Aravind holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He has been the recipient of the ‘Young Achiever’ award by the Indo-American Community and the ‘Super Entrepreneur 2019’ award by The Machinist (India) magazine.


Dr. Ajay Prabhu
Board Member

Ajay is associated with Aequs since 2007 and is currently the COO of QuEST Global. Under his leadership, QuEST Global has grown from 200 employees to 7300 employees. He has played a pivotal role in QuEST Global’s foray into aero structures domain, which has led to some major business wins for the organization in the aerospace and defense sectors.

Ajay was working with HP & Agilent Technologies in California for six years before moving to QuEST Global. He has turned QuEST into a global company by setting up delivery centers in several cities of USA, Italy, Japan, India, UK, Australia and Spain. Ajay’s passion and commitment to excellence permeates through every facet of QuEST Global. His relentless drive to build a best-in-class company through delivery and people process excellence has resulted in several industry recognitions for QuEST Global. Ajay has designed a unique business process and institutionalized the rhythm that has resulted in scalability, predictability and enhanced customer and employee satisfaction.

With a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from NITK, Surathkal, India, Ajay holds MS & Ph.D. degrees from the University of Massachusetts, USA. His research work on very high frequency amplifiers was recognized with an award from the IEEE (Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Microwave Society Fellowship and he holds two US Patents.


Rajeev Kaul
Chief Operating Officer, Aequs

Rajeev Kaul is Chief Operating Officer (COO), Aequs, responsible for the overall operations and performance of various verticals in the group including Aerospace, Toys and Consumer Durable Goods.

He has been with Aequs since its inception, growing with the organization over the years and taking on important roles with varied profiles and responsibilities. He has been instrumental in setting up the country’s first aerospace manufacturing ecosystem putting India firmly on the global Aerospace supply chain map.

With 25 plus years of rich experience cutting across industry sectors, Rajeev has played a significant role in advancing Aequs’ presence in India setting up various lines of business and establishing Joint Ventures.

After bringing new capabilities to the global manufacturing ecosystem and transforming Belagavi into an aerospace hub for India, Rajeev is now working on setting up the country’s first Toy Manufacturing Cluster at Koppal in Karnataka. The unique project is expected to bring in a step change in the Indian toys industry creating thousands of jobs and capabilities in the sector and immensely benefiting people from the region.

Rajeev is also anchoring the setting up yet another unique project, the Hubbali Durable Goods Cluster, yet again a first in the country, to provide a manufacturing solution with scale and capabilities intended to make India a leader the Consumer Durable Goods domestic and export markets.

Rajeev also serves as a board member of the JV companies of Aequs. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Delhi University and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.