The People

The team behind E-Sutra

A coalition of founders, advisors, and operators across policy, technology, media, and law — convened to build the bridge between India's Web3 builders, financial institutions, and regulators.

Founders

The people who started E-Sutra

Three leaders from policy, technology, and media combining deep institutional experience with conviction about India's digital asset future.

Co-Founder

Dr Arvind Gupta

Dr Arvind Gupta is a policy and technology leader best known as the Head and Co-Founder of the Digital India Foundation. Gupta also served as CEO of MyGov, the citizen engagement platform of the Government of India, helping scale participatory governance and digital public communication. His background includes leadership roles across consumer internet, digital media, payments, analytics, and the data economy. He holds engineering, computer science, and MBA credentials.

Co-Founder

Kanhaiya Singh

Kanhaiya Singh is a high-impact strategist and the Founder of E-Sutra, dedicated to pioneering the tokenisation of assets in the Indian market. Recognised for his dual expertise in governance and media, he leverages his role as Co-Founder of Indian Masterminds to bridge the gap between emerging tech pioneers and the top tiers of the Indian bureaucracy. With an elite media background spanning CNBC-TV18 and CNN-IBN, Kanhaiya is a master of navigating regulatory corridors, ensuring that digital asset innovation is backed by solid policy and government trust.

Co-Founder

Bhupendra Chaubey

Bhupendra Chaubey is an architect of modern narrative and a veteran strategist spearheading the national agenda for asset tokenisation through E-Sutra. After two decades of helming major national networks like NDTV and News18, he now focuses on the legislative clarity required to scale India's digital economy. Leveraging his extensive government connectivity, Bhupendra facilitates high-level dialogues that demystify blockchain and tokenisation for policymakers, fostering a regulatory environment that balances innovation with consumer protection.

Advisors

Counsel and oversight

Senior advisors guiding E-Sutra's governance, regulatory positioning, and statutory engagement.

Public Sector & Governance

Niraj N Kumar

Niraj N Kumar is a retired officer from the 1984 batch of the Indian Revenue Service. During his tenure with the Government, he served in progressively senior positions with the tax department before helming JNPT as its Deputy Chairman and Chairman. He is an expert in financial and fiscal matters, vigilance and compliance, administration and regulatory affairs. He holds two degrees in science and a variety of other qualifications in finance, taxation and administration including stints at IIM-A, IIM-B and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Legal & Regulatory Counsel

Mrinal Bharti

Mrinal Bharti is a distinguished advocate with nearly three decades of experience before the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts. A graduate of the Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi, he is a Senior Partner at MZM Legal and heads the firm's Delhi team. His practice spans white-collar crime, fraud, criminal and civil litigation, corporate advisory, compliance, and arbitration. Known for strategic thinking, courtroom strength, and result-oriented advocacy, he represents leading corporates, banks, PSUs, and institutions across sectors. Mrinal brings deep legal insight and practical judgment to complex disputes, transactions, and regulatory challenges.

Public Policy & Tech-Enabled Governance

Prashant Nikam

Prashant Nikam is an Indian public policy and governance professional known for bridging public systems with technology-driven innovation. After a distinguished career in public administration — including serving as Director (Police) in the Ministry of Home Affairs — he opted for voluntary retirement to pursue challenging assignments in the technology and analytics space. Over the years he has contributed to institutional reforms, governance processes, and data-led decision-making initiatives across multiple sectors, with a focus on technology-enabled governance, digital transformation, and citizen-centric innovation. He holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Business and has also studied public policy in the United Kingdom. His current work focuses on leveraging analytics, emerging technologies, and strategic policy thinking to improve governance and organisational effectiveness.

Team

Operators driving the day-to-day

The people executing E-Sutra's communications, editorial, business development, and engineering across stakeholders, media, and partners.

Strategic Communications

Saptarshi Sanyal

Saptarshi Sanyal is a seasoned communications architect specializing in high-impact narrative building and stakeholder engagement. At E-Sutra, he spearheads the strategic outreach required to translate complex blockchain and tokenization architectures into actionable policy dialogues. His result-oriented approach ensures that E-Sutra's mission is clearly communicated to institutional leaders, fostering the trust and transparency necessary for a regulated digital economy. His work includes stints in NDTV, CNN-IBN, GMR, JSW, and Dream11.

Editorial & Media

Sudeep Mukhia

With over 30 years across print, television, and digital journalism, Sudeep Mukhia is one of India's pioneering digital news editors. Most recently, he served as Editor of CNN-News18, where he led newsroom operations, editorial strategy, digital integration, and audience growth at one of the country's most-watched English news channels. He was part of the founding team of CNN-IBN and IBNLive, helping shape India's early digital-first news model. He has also led TimesofIndia.com, IndianExpress.com, and HindustanTimes.com, driving newsroom transformation across web, mobile, and broadcast platforms through India's major news and internet expansion phases.

Technology & Infrastructure

Lavanya Tomar

Engineer. Tech evangelist. Builder of systems that work. Lavanya architects E-Sutra's technology backbone — the platforms, frameworks, and technical standards that turn policy conversations into working infrastructure. He builds at the intersection of blockchain engineering and institutional systems, making Web3 adoption not just possible but production-ready for India.

Sales & Distribution

Amitabh Bhatnagar

Ace at setting up and executing the right sales and distribution strategies for global blockchain entities.

Education & Advocacy

Srijal Gupta

Srijal Gupta is a young global blockchain advocate, entrepreneur, and education reformer working at the intersection of Web3, policy, and innovation. Through initiatives like the School of Blockchain and international collaborations, he has been actively promoting blockchain awareness, digital asset literacy, and responsible adoption across emerging markets. Known for building bridges between technology, governance, and youth leadership, Srijal has represented India in global forums while championing the vision of making blockchain education accessible and impactful for the next generation.

Patrons

The institutions standing with us

Patrons will be announced shortly. If you are an institution interested in patronage, please get in touch.

Coming Soon

Reach out to discuss patronage

Build alongside this team.

E-Sutra is open to founders, institutions, and policymakers who want to work on India's digital asset infrastructure together.

Join E-Sutra