Core Team
Akbar Kamal
Swati Telrandhe
Advisory
Ambarish Ghatate
Abhijeet Gan
Hasan Kamal
Hemant Moharir
Suhas Budhe
Associates
Laxmikant M. Padole
Praful Patil
Priyanka Khandelwal
Arwa Ali
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A sustainable technology advocate, Akbar has spent over 15 years working at the intersection of technology, systems thinking, and business strategy. His experience spans global engagements across India, Japan, the US, Taiwan, and the UAE. Akbar brings a rare combination of technical depth and systems empathy. At octave.EARTH, his focus lies in applying this experience at the intersection of rural resilience, sustainable livelihoods, and future-ready technology.
He’s helped transform chemical-reliant farmlands into regenerative agri models through Amrit-Gram, scaled data-backed production with Falcon Farms and BGZ Farms, and built the Smart Village Dashboard to turn rural progress into something you can see and measure. With Niramay Foundation, he’s supported last-mile e-health clinics; with Bhugaon FPC, strengthened collective farming enterprises.
He believes that tech doesn’t need to be flashy; It needs to be functional, trusted, and deeply rooted in local wisdom, environmental resilience, and long-term community value. From remote diagnostics to soil sensors, Akbar’s approach is always the same: listen to the system, tune into the need, and build for the long haul.
Swati is a Practicing Chartered Accountant with over 13 years of experience in managing end-to-end financial operations across manufacturing, trading, and non-profit sectors. Her expertise encompasses fiscal governance, regulatory compliance, statutory registrations, and audit management. As a strategic financial advisor to NGOs, she specializes in building financially viable project frameworks, ensuring compliance, and driving sustainable outcomes. She manages the full donor lifecycle, from grant proposals and CSR funding to financial reporting and audit-ready documentation, and also designs budgeting systems, fund utilization plans, and conducts variance analyses, aligning financial strategy with program goals to support impactful, mission-driven work.
Ambarish Ghatate is a nationally renowned figure in the field of Ayurveda. He established Manas Ayurved in 1996. He is also closely associated with Aura Park (also known as Aura Conservation Park or Ayurvan's Aura Park) in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Aura Park is described as a beautiful botanical garden and a dream destination for biodiversity lovers, located about 40 kilometers from Nagpur on Amravati Road. It is home to a vast collection of over 500 to 700 species of medicinal plants, herbs, and trees used in Ayurvedic therapy. Ambarish Ghatate is involved in managing and promoting Aura Park, which also conducts workshops for farmers and students interested in Ayurvedic therapy. The park aims to conserve and nurture rare medicinal plants and offers various activities like Nakshatra Van, Navagraha Van, and educational picnics.
As a clean technology pioneer, he blends entrepreneurial leadership with a deep commitment to social equity and environmental resilience. As Managing Director of Rite Water Solutions, he has spent the last 17+ years shaping CleanTech innovations that deliver safe, sustainable, and inclusive access to water across India’s underserved regions. His philanthropic support, the Amrit Gram project, reflects his ethos of transforming rural communities through regenerative farming, clean water access, and circular livelihoods.
An engineer by training (BITS Pilani) and a management graduate (S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research), Abhijeet brings clarity, conviction, and systems thinking to every challenge. His approach, equal parts strategic and hands-on, has earned recognition from the World Water Leadership Congress among others.
At octave.EARTH, Abhijeet serves in an advisory capacity. He believes water is a fundamental right, a shared resource, and a starting point for justice. Whether he’s guiding enterprise strategy or co-creating rural interventions, his north star remains solutions that endure, systems that empower, and futures that include everyone.
Hasan is a seasoned energy policy and sustainability expert currently serving at the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, where he leads the impact evaluation of the Emirate’s long-term Demand Side Management (DSM) and energy efficiency strategy. With over 15 years of experience across Asia and the Middle East, he brings deep expertise in policy, regulations, program design and impact modeling.
He is also an active investor in tech startups focusing on data and analytics. His approach blends public policy, data systems, and on-ground impact—making him a valuable voice in shaping inclusive and scalable climate solutions.
At Octave Earth, Hasan serves as a strategic advisor, guiding the platform’s alignment with geographic priorities and ensuring its impact is grounded in evidence and data.
An engineering professional with a management background and over two decades of corporate experience, Hemant Moharir made a quiet but profound shift over a decade ago when he stepped away from the conventional career arc to pursue a life rooted in meaning, balance, and sustainability.
Guided by the principles of Madhyastha Darshan, a co-existential philosophy grounded in interconnectedness, Hemant began cultivating organic farms and crafting natural cosmetic products.
Today, Hemant dedicates his time to the study and application of philosophy, and facilitates organic, sustainable living through Yuktahaar, an initiative he co-founded with his wife, Swati, a practising nutritionist. It is both a community and a facilitator, supporting health-conscious families in exploring purposeful living, while connecting them with authentic sources of sustainable food and wellness. Yuktahaar fosters lasting relationships between producers, facilitators, and consumers through shared values and mutual trust.
As an advisor at octave.EARTH, he brings his lived wisdom, systems perspective, and deep ecological empathy to the table. For him, sustainability begins with self-awareness and thrives in community.
A sustainable technology advocate, Akbar has spent over 15 years working at the intersection of technology, systems thinking, and business strategy. His experience spans global engagements across India, Japan, the US, Taiwan, and the UAE. Akbar brings a rare combination of technical depth and systems empathy. At octave.EARTH, his focus lies in applying this experience at the intersection of rural resilience, sustainable livelihoods, and future-ready technology.
He’s helped transform chemical-reliant farmlands into regenerative agri models through Amrit-Gram, scaled data-backed production with Falcon Farms and BGZ Farms, and built the Smart Village Dashboard to turn rural progress into something you can see and measure. With Niramay Foundation, he’s supported last-mile e-health clinics; with Bhugaon FPC, strengthened collective farming enterprises.
He believes that tech doesn’t need to be flashy; It needs to be functional, trusted, and deeply rooted in local wisdom, environmental resilience, and long-term community value. From remote diagnostics to soil sensors, Akbar’s approach is always the same: listen to the system, tune into the need, and build for the long haul.
A sustainable technology advocate, Akbar has spent over 15 years working at the intersection of technology, systems thinking, and business strategy. His experience spans global engagements across India, Japan, the US, Taiwan, and the UAE. Akbar brings a rare combination of technical depth and systems empathy. At octave.EARTH, his focus lies in applying this experience at the intersection of rural resilience, sustainable livelihoods, and future-ready technology.
He’s helped transform chemical-reliant farmlands into regenerative agri models through Amrit-Gram, scaled data-backed production with Falcon Farms and BGZ Farms, and built the Smart Village Dashboard to turn rural progress into something you can see and measure. With Niramay Foundation, he’s supported last-mile e-health clinics; with Bhugaon FPC, strengthened collective farming enterprises.
He believes that tech doesn’t need to be flashy; It needs to be functional, trusted, and deeply rooted in local wisdom, environmental resilience, and long-term community value. From remote diagnostics to soil sensors, Akbar’s approach is always the same: listen to the system, tune into the need, and build for the long haul.
A product and systems thinker, Praful completed his graduation and post-graduation from IIT Bombay in 2015 before spending several years working across product management and program management roles in startups. His experience across technology, entrepreneurship, and organisational systems shaped his interest in understanding not just how products are built, but how larger human and social systems can be designed to create meaningful change.
His journey eventually took him from startups to the land. Drawn to questions of ecological sustainability and self-reliant living, Praful began exploring permaculture as a philosophy for farmsteading and sustainable system design. He worked on a dryland farm near Bangalore, where he helped grow year-round organic vegetables for around 100 families. Living closely with the realities of soil, water, food, livelihoods, and community gave him a deeper understanding of sustainability as an interconnected system rather than simply an environmental practice.
Post the covid-19 pandemic, Praful has been a student of Madhyasth Darshan, exploring its perspective on human values, relationships, and coexistence. This journey has shifted his focus toward a deeper question: how can education help create a fundamental value change in individuals and consequently in all humans to live in harmony with nature and society.
At octave.EARTH, his focus is on exploring this intersection of education, human values, sustainability, and systems thinking. He is particularly interested in how mainstream education systems can evolve beyond information and skill development to support right understanding, meaningful relationships, responsible living, and a harmonious relationship with nature and society.
Priyanka Khandelwal brings nearly two decades of experience in training, counselling, and marketing. During her long tenure at NEEV Institute in Nagpur, she trained and counselled thousands of students preparing for competitive examinations and served as a resource person for customised programmes across schools, corporates, and institutions including the RBI and leading insurance companies. An MBA in Marketing & HR and a Cambridge-certified (BEC) trainer, she pairs a deep understanding of human psychology with sharp communication skills — a combination that lets her connect just as easily with young learners as with artisans, farmers, and senior stakeholders.
Her commitment to sustainability runs deep. As founder of BING Studios and through her work with MBDB, Priyanka has been a dedicated champion of bamboo as a sustainable alternative to plastic — designing market-ready products, mentoring ITI students, and collaborating with the Forest Department to help rural artisans bring their craft to market. She represented bamboo at the C20 platform of the G20 Summit at the Jio World Convention Centre, and her venture, Bamboo Is The New Gold, has been recognised by IIM Bangalore and certified under the National Bamboo Mission.
At OCTAVE Earth, Priyanka's core focus is promoting bamboo and allied local artisan skills, along with the range of products they yield — nurturing craftspeople, strengthening market linkages, and building visibility for sustainable, handcrafted goods. Her training work spans a wide canvas: schools and educators, artisan clusters, ITI and vocational learners, CSR partners, and community groups across Vidarbha and Central India. Fluent in English, Hindi, and Marathi, and equally at home shaping a workshop, a product line, or a market strategy, she brings both the heart and the toolkit that OCTAVE Earth's fair-chain vision needs.
An architect and urban designer, Arwa Ali brings over 12 years of experience across professional practice, urban research, project development, and architectural education. A postgraduate from CEPT University, Ahmedabad, she works at the intersection of design, research, planning, and community engagement.
As Co-founder of CityS-C Research Collab, she has been actively involved in citizen awareness initiatives in Nagpur around sustainable lifestyles, waste management, sustainable mobility, water bodies, natural resources and biodiversity, helping bring conversations around urban sustainability closer to everyday life.
Her experience also extends into product design and craft through Naaz Studio and Ecolore Gifting Solutions. She designs and develops products that encourage conscious gifting choices, while collaborating with Dhokra artisans from Bastar and other small-scale artisan communities to co-create products, refine designs, and strengthen their connection with contemporary markets.
Arwa believes that meaningful change comes from understanding context, involving people in the process, and developing thoughtful solutions that respond to real needs. She values research, collaboration, traditional knowledge, craftsmanship, and the conscious use of resources.
*Biotechnology | Environmental Sustainability | Bioprocess Innovation*
Dr. Shrirang R. Maddalwar is a biotechnology professional and researcher with a PhD in Biotechnology and extensive experience in environmental biotechnology, bioprocess technologies, and sustainable product development. His research focuses on plant microbial fuel cells, bioenergy generation, microbial technologies, and innovative approaches to environmental management.
He has worked with CSIR–National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), the Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board, and biotechnology industries, contributing to research, technology development, and the commercialisation of bio-based solutions. His expertise includes microbial formulations, biomass waste treatment, biogas enhancement, and biotechnology-based product development. He has authored scientific publications and contributed to multiple patent applications covering environmental and bioprocess innovations.
Dr. Maddalwar is passionate about translating scientific research into practical, scalable solutions that advance environmental sustainability, resource efficiency, and the circular bioeconomy.