Chairman and Managing Director and Promoter of the Company, he is actively involved in the day-to-day affairs of the Company, as a Whole Time Director. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in commerce from Karnataka University, Dharwad. He was a former Member of Parliament and was elected from the Dharwad (North) constituency in the 11th, 12th and 13th Lok Sabha elections and he was also a member of the Legislature of the State of Karnataka. He was a member of Central Government committees, such as, the Committee of Finance between 1996 and 1997, the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Surface Transport between 1996 and 2000 and the Committee of Transport and Tourism between 1998 and 2000. He has over three decades of experience in the transport industry. He has received various awards including the 'Udyog Ratna' in 1994 by the Institute of Economic Studies, New Delhi, Aaryabhat Award in 2002, Sir M. Visvesvaraya Memorial Award in 2007 and the Transport Samrat in 2008. He was recently selected as 'Transport Personlity of the year' during the recently concluded India Road Transportation Awards 2012 (IRTA).