Vasu Shroff hands over the India Club’s ceremonial key to Siddharth Balachandran. Kamal Kassim, Gulf Today

Imran Mojib, Special Correspondent

A new executive committee led by prominent Indian businessman and noted philanthropist Siddharth Balachandran took over the charge of India Club Dubai at an investiture ceremony hosted by the India Club on Thursday to welcome members of the new executive committee and honour members of the outgoing committee that served the community centre.

Outgoing chairman Vasu Shroff, who served the club for over four years, handed over the club’s ceremonial key to Balachandran in the presence of top officials of the Community Development Authority in Dubai and Consulate General of India in Dubai.

Other members of the new Executive Committee are Vikram Shroff (Vice-Chairman), Ratnakar Shetty, Chetna Shastri, Pishu Chainani, Mohit Sain, Mohammed Abdulla Murad, Saeed Musallam, Suresh Menon, Sunil Pathak, Naveen Sharma and Pansy Lobo.

India Club Dubai, a community hub for Indians in the emirate, is over half-a-century old non-profit organisation that provides its 6500 members with top class facilities in the field of sports, social amenities, entertainment, recreation and promotion of business.

Talking to the Gulf Today, Balachandran said that his team will make all efforts to further enhance members’ experience by advancing the club’s state-of-the-art sports and health facilities as well as culinary and recreational activities that are comparable to the best in the world. The members also celebrate several major, as well as minor, Indian festivals at the club.

“We are at the cusp of embarking upon an action-packed, event-filled phase in the year,” he said, “We are in the peak of a hot, but always glorious Dubai summer, and with this extra warmth comes renewed sense of hope, enthusiasm and passion... all of which is essential for the exciting times ahead.”

Speaking about the agenda set by his team for the next term, Balachandran said that facilities improvement is an ongoing thing, however, he promised to make it fast-paced and more efficient.

“India club is known for its banqueting facility at a low cost. We are improving the kitchen and add more facilities. We are also trying to improve the MNCs experience by adding business entrepreneurship angle and inviting high-profile businessmen to talk about their success stories, which may inspire people,” he added.