Aakash Educational Services appoints Alka Garg as CFO and Kanika Kumar Nijhawan as SVP Marketing

Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), a provider of test preparation services for engineering and medical entrance examinations, has appointed Alka Garg as Chief Financial Officer and Kanika Kumar Nijhawan as Senior Vice President – Marketing.

The appointments come at a time when the company is sharpening its focus on governance, operational efficiency and growth. Earlier, Deepak Mehrotra, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Aakash, resigned in August last year, 16 months after being appointed in April 2024.

Alka Garg brings more than 22 years of strategic and operational experience across listed enterprises and high-growth startups. She has worked closely with founders, chief executives and executive teams to drive enterprise value creation, enable profitable scaling and support sustainable growth.

At AESL, Garg will lead the finance function, spearhead financial strategy, improve operational efficiency, strengthen governance structures and support the company’s future growth plans.

Before joining Aakash, she served as Chief Financial Officer at Yum Restaurant India, where she played a key role in shaping the financial strategy for the KFC brand and improving overall business performance. Her earlier leadership roles include positions at Siemens, GreyOrange, Bharti Airtel and Deloitte.

Kanika Kumar Nijhawan joins AESL with over 17 years of experience across the media, retail and sports sectors. She brings expertise in brand building, strategic marketing, digital and performance marketing, and omnichannel engagement.

Prior to Aakash, she spent a decade at Adidas India as Director – Brand Marketing. She has also worked with HT Media and Sony Entertainment.

AESL specialises in preparation for high-stakes medical entrance examinations such as NEET and engineering entrance examinations such as JEE. It also prepares students for competitive exams including NTSE and Olympiads. The company operates a pan-India network of more than 415 centres and has over 400,000 students currently enrolled.