Current and ex-consultants among most influential Indian-Australians

Described as a secret weapon in driving bilateral trade between the countries in the coming decade, a number of consultants have featured on a list of most influential Indian-Australians living in New South Wales.

A number of current and former consultants have featured on a list of the 25 most influential Indian-Australians in New South Wales, as compiled by the Daily Telegraph.

Not particularly known as a champion of diversity, the publication notes a projected tripling of Australian exports to India to $45 billion over the coming decade, with NSW treasurer Daniel Mookhey describing the local Indian community as a ‘secret weapon’ in driving trade.

While the final list of the state’s most influential and powerful Indian-Australians – headed by Mookhey and NSW deputy premier Prue Car in the top two spots – featured a smattering of content makers, beauty queens, hospitality identities and even one-time one day international cricketer Gurinder Singh – there was still a healthy share of entries from outside of the political and media sphere, including a number from the consulting realm.

Indeed, in third spot was Neville Roach, the former CEO of Fujitsu and chairman of Tata Consultancy Services who has long been a keen public advocate of the country’s ICT industry and multicultural development. But further down the list there were perhaps some less familiar faces, including former KPMG partner Tim Thomas in 12th, due to being appointed inaugural CEO of the recently-formed Centre for Australia-India Relations.

The centre’s chair, former banking executive Swati Dave was also on the list one spot above Thomas, however CAIR advisory board members Amit Singh and Sammy Kumar – respectively the managing partner of Mandala Partners and CEO and co-founder of Sayers Group – unfortunately missed out. The list did feature one current consultant though, the head of KPMG’s Indian Business Practice and ‘Indiaspora’ country head Jai Patel, who landed at 19th.

Another Indian-Australian with a consulting pedigree to feature was Amitabh Mall, who joined Woolworths as Chief Analytics Officer in 2021 after a two-decade career with Boston Consulting Group where he rose to senior partner as head of the strategy giant’s Asia Pacific consumer practice. Notably, the Daily Telegraph’s ‘culture war’ bent recently contributed to the downfall of Woolies’ chief Brad Banducci, also a one-time BCG senior leader.

However, the founders of South Asian community focused news publication India Link – Rajni and Pawan Luthra, together at 17th on the list – expressed their appreciation for the coverage; “For a mainstream publication such as The Daily Telegraph to be studying our community at such close quarters, is a mark of the impact we have been making in Australian life, and the promise of the impact we could be making towards Australia-India relations.”