Rama Bijapurkar is a highly sought-after business advisor, best-selling author, and prominent independent director on India Inc’s boards, recognized as one of the nation’s foremost thought leaders on business-market strategy and India’s consumer economy. She defines her work as "bringing market focus and consumer insight to business strategy and providing the ‘people lens’ to understand India’s economy better."
Her expertise is built on a commanding blend of corporate experience and academic rigor, with past employment at McKinsey & Company and senior roles in major marketing and research groups. She is an alumna of IIT Kanpur (BSc Hons in Physics) and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), where she has served as visiting faculty for over two decades, teaching customer-based business strategy. This dual background informs her ability to link rigorous strategic thinking with a deep understanding of human behavior.
Bijapurkar is among India’s most experienced independent directors, having served on the boards of blue-chip companies including Infosys, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Bharat Petroleum, and Sun Pharma. Her counsel is highly valued, and she has served on the governing councils of institutions like IIM Ahmedabad and the National Institute of Bank Management. This high-level governance oversight ensures her advice is grounded in the operational realities of large Indian conglomerates.
A dominant voice in the media on business and policy issues, she is the author of influential books on Consumer India. Her works include Lilliput Land – How Small is Driving India’s Mega Consumption Story, We Are Like That Only, and A Never-Before World. Her presentations offer audiences strategic insights into tracking the evolution of Consumer India and crafting business strategies that are profoundly customer-based and attuned to social and cultural change.
