SVG India Announces Advisory Board; JioStar’s Prashant Khanna Named Chairman

The Sports Video Group is proud to announce the launch of an SVG India Advisory Board. Led and chaired by Prashant Khanna, JioStar, Head, Production Services and Technology, Sports, the advisory board represents the most important sports and media organisations in India and will focus on leading a series of activities within India.

“Over the past two years the SVG India Summit has become a touchstone event for sports production professionals both within India or those wanting to become more closely aligned with a nation that brings together a passion for sports, technology, and production that is unique in terms of its scale and innovation,” says Ken Kerschbaumer, SVG Co-Executive Director. “Under Prashant’s leadership our first two events have been a tremendous success and now with the establishment of a board the annual Summit and other events will take our activities to a new level and make SVG India more valuable to SVG members and sponsors. India is an exciting region full of technology innovation, amazing sports fans, and some of the most powerful sports leagues and federations on the planet so it’s great to help bring leaders in sport production and technology together.”

Prashant Khanna, JioStar, Head, Production Services and Technology, Sports has been named chairman of the SVG India Advisory board.

Khanna is a technocologist, mentor, and lifelong sports fan with over two decades shaping the intersection of sports, media, and technology. Known to most as PK, he has led production, R&D, and innovation teams at global broadcasters and Organisations — from News Corp, NDTV, Turner, Hinduja, Reliance Media Works & Disney Star, to his current role at JioStar, where he head’s Production Services, Studios & Tech for Sports & Live Experiences.

Beyond the big screens, He advise and mentor sports and tech start-ups and remain rooted in his love for grassroots sports as a Certified Coach from Singapore Football Federation and Alumnus of the Johan Cruyff Institute, Barcelona.

“It’s truly a privilege to partner with SVG and a remarkable board of peers who represent the best of India’s sports and media ecosystem” says Khanna.  “At a time when technology, production, and storytelling are converging faster than ever, SVG India provides a powerful platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing. The conversations and innovations happening here are shaping how sport is produced, distributed, and ultimately experienced by fans. Together, we aim to drive that change responsibly and collectively, ensuring that India remains at the forefront of this exciting evolution.” he added.

The SVG India Advisory Board members are:

Mukund Acharya, Sony Pictures Networks India, Chief
Acharya has a nearly three-decade-long career in technology driving innovation and platform scalability across

Mukund Acharya

Digital and Broadcast ecosystems. Most notably, at Disney+ Hotstar (now JioStar), he led the engineering for high stakes sporting events like the ICC World Cups in 2023, 2024, and 2025. His prior roles at Yahoo, InMobi, and other global tech firms further cemented his reputation as a leader in technology, known for building highly scalable, end-user-focused systems, particularly in OTT, advertising, and monetization space. He holds a master’s in computer science from the University of Kentucky, USA and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from NIT, Warangal, India.

Kingshuk Bhattacharya

Kingshuk Bhattacharya, Head of Broadcast Operations and Network, Sony Pictures Networks India
Bhattacharya is responsible for managing content workflows using the latest technology in-order to simplify complex processes. His expertise includes AR & VR content creation. He was also appointed a ‘Distinguished Engineer” title at Sony for 2024-25. Prior to this he served the network as the VP-Technical Services, where he led the post-production & Sports Studios of the network. He is also responsible for setting up the LIVE sports production facility for SPN. With a career spanning over 27 years, Kingshuk has worked as an editor servicing ad-films, direction & production of various TV shows. Kingshuk has also played an integral role in designing the RMW sound stages in the Film City Complex at Goregaon, Mumbai. A graduate of Film & Television Production from St. Xaviers Institute of Communication, Mumbai, he is alsoan alumnus of The Scindia School, Gwalior.

Chaitanya Chinchlikar

Chaitanya Chinchlikar, Whistling Woods International, VP, Business Head, CTO, and Emerging Media Head
Chaitanya has had a multi-faceted career in Media & Entertainment. He is the Vice President, Business Head, CTO & Emerging Media Head of Whistling Woods International – India’s premier Film & Creative Arts institute. Over the past 2 decades, he has greatly strengthened India’s Media & Entertainment education landscape, while leading several academic & technology innovations at Whistling Woods, pioneering new areas of M&E education and  M&E Emerging Technologies like Virtual Production, Virtual Reality & AI, through the many Technology Development Labs Whistling Woods has set up through technology partnerships with global M&E Tech giants. Chaitanya is the first Indian film educator to be invited, in 2025, to join The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, in the Production & Technology branch and is also the first Indian to receive the much-coveted SMPTE Excellence in Education Medal in 2024. He currently serves on several public policy bodies in India – including as a Founding Governing Council Member of the Indian Institute of Creative Technology. He is part of many global M&E organisations like SMPTE, IABM, HPA, C2PA and the CAI. He currently also serves on multiple public policy advisory bodies for Government of India and various state governments.

Jay Chauhan

Jay Chauhan, TechM, Head of Global M&E Competency at TechM
Previously, Jay was the COO of a leading digital news business, founder of a digital healthcare startup as well as a music festival. Jay has received the Commonwealth Broadcasters award for Innovative Engineering twice. When not otherwise occupied, he can be found playing his guitar. He currently is driving M&E revenues through outcome-based Agentic AI, LLM platform commercialization, and partner GTM. His responsibilities include product strategy, exceeding revenue targets, analyst relations, and building a tier-1 ecosystem across cloud, data, and AI. He also hosts LLMix the TechMahindra podcast at the intersection of Gen AI and M&E. He previously spent 10 years at NDTV, eight of which were as Chief Innovation Officer where he wore many hats including digital transformation, sales and business operations, and building relationships with clients across Asia and Africa

Mustafa Ghouse

Mustafa Ghouse, Centre Court Capital (CCC), General Partner
A Founding General Partner for India’s first dedicated venture capital fund focused on the sports and gaming ecosystem, Ghouse has over a decade of experience leading JSW Sports and pioneering key initiatives in Indian sports. He recognized a critical gap—early-stage founders in this sector lacked dedicated capital and the operational expertise needed to scale. Prior to launching CCC, Mustafa was the founding CEO of JSW Sports, where he played a pivotal role in shaping India’s modern sports landscape. Under his leadership, JSW Sports strategically invested in and operated franchises across major leagues, including the Indian Premier League (IPL), Indian Super League (ISL), Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Women’s Premier League (WPL), and SA20. Before transitioning to the business of sports, Mustafa had an accomplished career as a professional tennis player on the ATP Tour, representing India at the Davis Cup and winning a bronze medal at the Asian Games. His journey—from competing at the highest level to shaping the future of Indian sports through investment—gives him a rare, end-to-end perspective of the industry.

Rajat Nigam

Rajat Nigam, Chief Technology Officer – JioStar
Recognized by CIO today in 2023 as a Top 5 Innovative CTO, Rajat is a media technology professional with unique domain enveloping traditional and digital media nuances. He has rich hands-on experience on wide gamut from International Sports Field and Studio Production, Live News Operations, Satellite Communications, Content IP; IT network solutions, Digital media enveloping OTT; Publishing. Leads a large sized media Technology and Operations team managing technology verticals including Enterprise IT, Cybersecurity, Digital Transformation and Innovations. A respected industry thought leader and Speaker. He has driven many firsts in India industry including file-based content workflow, Satcom designs, live UHD/4K sports solutions besides being instrumental in framing industry policies and guidelines.

Mallika Petkar

Mallika Petkar, JioStar, Head, Acquisitions, BD & Distribution, Sports
A seasoned professional with 20 years in digital and broadcast media. Proven ability to lead strategic partnerships, drive revenue growth, and manage large-scale sports rights acquisitions (IPL, BCCI, Olympics, FIFA & more). Expertise in market strategy and monetization. Currently leading domestic acquisitions & distribution strategy for Sports at JioStar. Past roles at Disney+ Hotstar and Ernst & Young. Petkar enjoys travel, pilates and rading and loves the ringside view of sport and fandom around the world

Sameer Pitalwalla

Sameer Pitalwalla, Google Cloud, Head of Gaming, APAC
Pitalwalla is a digital media and technology entrepreneur, and is currently the Head of Gaming, APAC for Google Cloud. He was previously the Territory Head, Epic Games for ASEAN, and South Asia. Prior to Epic, he was the co-founder and CEO of Culture Machine, one of India’s largest digital media firms that reaches 300 MN Unique audiences per month and 1 billion monthly views. He is a National Award-winning film producer, Forbes 30 under 30 in 2017, and holds multiple tech patents to his name.

Bharath Ram

Bharath Ram, JioHotstar, Chief Product Officer
In a career spanning 25 years, Bharath has worked across OTT, social media, Ads, e-commerce, Travel and Enterprise software to develop new innovative products, business models and worked on cutting edge tech such as GenAI. In his role he leads efforts in areas such as user engagement, personalization, adtech, and design, with a focus on creating a seamless and immersive experience for a massive audience in India and other markets. Ram leverages a data-driven approach to enhance user retention, including analyzing metrics like language preference, and uses AI to improve content discovery and ad targeting. Bharath worked in the U.S. for 20 years in companies such as Microsoft, Prime Video and Instagram before moving back to India to work for Flipkart and completed MS in Computer Engineering from Ohio State University, MBA from University of Michigan.

Ajesh Ramachandran

Ajesh Ramachandran, Senior Manager, Broadcast/EP ‑ International Cricket Council
Ajesh Ramachandran is a seasoned executive producer with over two decades of experience in cricket broadcasting. He has delivered high-impact live productions across marquee events, including multiple editions of the ICC Cricket World Cup and the ICC T20 World Cup for both men and women. Ramachandran has played a pioneering role in several broadcast innovations in cricket, ranging from the on-screen integration of real-time player tracking to conceptualising cricket’sfirst vertical feed production for mobile phones. He has also been an early promoter of female commentary talent across ICC events, helping broaden the pathway for women in cricket broadcasting. His approach has always sought to balance technical excellence with compelling storytelling, creating memorable and inclusive viewing experiences for audiences around the world.

Krithika Raman

Krithika Raman, Vice President Product Engineering at Comcast India Engineering Center
Krithika Raman is VP of Product Engineering at the Comcast India Engineering Center, a global in-house engineering, development, and innovation center that works to develop and deliver products and services that transform the Comcast customer experience and facilitate connections all over the world. Skilled at setting up new teams and growing technical talent, Krithika works with cross-functional teams to enhance product value and reduce maintenance cost.  Krithika has contributed to building the strategy, vision, and mission for Comcast India, has developed products from scratch, and come up with creative solutions to customize products for various markets.  Her technical skills include system architecture, cable network, embedded systems for video, broadband and home automation. Prior to joining Comcast, Krithika worked as the Senior Engineering Manager at Cisco Systems and Future Software.  Krithika holds a B.Sc in Physics a M.E in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She speaks English and Tamil and her personal interests include trekking, traveling, history, philosophy and spirituality. She also enjoys acquainting herself with new cultures, traditions, and forging friendships.

Dinesh Singh

Dinesh Singh, NDTV, Group CTO
With 16+ years of technology leadership as CXO, I have driven innovation and large-scale broadcast operations at NDTV. As Group CTO, he has overseen complex live productions, including the NDTV Toyota University Cricket League, ensuring seamless coverage and impactful audience engagement. His expertise spans digital transformation, strategic planning, and team leadership, earning international recognition. Singh is passionate about leveraging technology and media to enhance the growth and visibility of sports at national and global levels.

Satyam Trivedi

Satyam Trivedi, CEO, GMR – Sports
Satyam Trivedi is a seasoned leader in sports management, bringing over two decades of experience across India’s premier sporting organizations. As CEO of GMR Sports, he oversees a diverse portfolio that includes multiple global sports franchises, the Rugby League in India, and sports infrastructure projects in both India and the UK. His career includes key leadership roles such as Deputy CEO at RPSG Sports and Head of Sports Business, Founding Member at Adani Sportsli. Satyam has successfully managed teams and properties across major leagues including IPL, WPL, SA20, ILT20, LLC, Pro Kabaddi League, Big Bout (Boxing League), marathons, and sports infrastructure projects. Renowned for his collaborative leadership style and extensive industry network, Satyam combines strategic foresight with a deep passion for sport. His athlete-first approach and commercial acumen have helped build sustainable ecosystems that engage fans and elevate Indian sports on the global stage.