Rajan Navani is the Vice Chairman & Managing Director of the diversified Jetline Group of Companies, the roots of which originate back to the 1930’s in Bangkok, Thailand with a presence in India since 1974.
The group has recently made significant investments and is building new age businesses in powering varied consumer-facing digital platforms, products and services through group company ‘Jetsynthesys’. Rajan is personally providing leadership and strategic direction to the company with operations in India, MENA, SE Asia, UK, Japan and USA. The group now has operational businesses in new age digital media, entertainment and in categories including short format video & music, OTT, gaming, e-sports, classifieds, cricket, mobility, mindfulness and healthcare. The group is also building artificial intelligence, blockchain and AR/VR/MR/XR led Industry 4.0 solutions to strengthen enterprises globally. Additionally, through the combination of Jet Ventures & JetLabs, powered by ‘Garage’, the group is engaging deeply with the startup ecosystem in India, Israel, Singapore, UK, Japan & USA.
Rajan is currently the Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s CII National Council on India@75, Founding National Chairman of CII’s Council on Future Businesses, the Past National Chairman of CII Young Indians and is a member of CII’s National Council for the past 15 years. Rajan is a founding trustee of the India@75 Foundation, a global board member of the US-India Business Council , founding board member of Indiaspora, and a member of the Purdue-India Executive Council. He is a Government of India under PM Modi nominated CEO of the India Japan Business Leaders Forum, and the India Sweden Business Leaders Forum. He is also the Co-Chairman of the India Singapore Strategic Dialogue supported by the Ministry of Extenal Affairs, India. He is the first National President of the Indian Digital Gaming Society and a trustee of Aspen’s Ananta Centre in India, a fellow of the Aspen India Leadership Initiative 2011–2012 and member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He is also a BMW Herbert Quandt Foundation’s Young World Leader, a CNBC India’s Young Turk and part of the ASEAN 100 Leadership Forum.
Rajan holds a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA, under a NASA grant, majoring in Digital Satellite Imaging and Remote Sensing graduating with the award for outstanding academic achievement. Prior to joining the family business, Rajan worked with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, USA. A gold medalist at the University of Poona, India in the Bachelors of Electronics and Telecommunications program from College of Engineering Pune (COEP), Rajan also has a diploma in Business Management. He and his wife Sheetal are blessed with two daughters, Ilina and Arusha.