Karthikeyan T.V., currently chief financial officer, Infrastructure Development Projects Limited (L&T IDPL), a subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has been associated with the company for nearly 25 years. Prior to his current role, he headed the finance, accounts, and human resource departments at L&T-RAMBOLL Consulting En-gineers Limited.
In 2002, Karthikeyan was deputed to Bangalore International Airport Limited, the first public-private partnership (PPP) airport in the country. His responsibilities included negotiating and concluding agreements with the central and state governments and achieving financial closure for the project. Besides L&T, he has been a part of various corporate conglomerates such as SRF Limited, the TI Group, Crompton Greaves and Ashok Leyland.
In his current role at L&T IDPL, his primary responsibilities are both strategic and operational in nature. His key responsibility is consolidation by resolving financial and contractual matters relating to projects and getting the company back on the growth path. He believes that his expertise in corporate finance and project finance, corporate accounts and audit, corporate secretarial and management information systems has added value to the various positions he has held.
A chartered accountant and company secretary, Karthikeyan has been actively involved in the country’s infrastructure landscape for the past 10 years and has played an active role in bringing in an investment of Rs 20 billion from the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.
On the state of the transportation sector, Karthikeyan believes that the sector today is facing challenges owing to the economic downturn of the past few years and several PPP projects are either stalled or struggling to service debt. According to him, the recently submitted Kelkar Committee report, if adopted at an early date, even in phases, can re-energise the PPP format of project development.
With an ability to deal with uncertainties, Karthikeyan is approachable and practical. He handles crises at work with calmness and with the confidence that something can always be worked out.
Karthikeyan loves spending time with his family and friends. He practices yoga and describes himself as an enthusiastic walker. He is married to Radhika, an editor at a publishing house. They have two children – a daughter who is married and is pursuing her Ph.D. in Atlanta, USA, and a son who is enrolled in a chartered accountancy course.