Economic Laws Practice (ELP) has added former Tata Power head of strategy and contracts Karishma Maniar as an associate director in its defense and aerospace practice, and former Delhi-based Khaitan & Co business development director Ashutosh Gupta as partner, strategy and planning.

An engineer by profession, Maniar has 11 years of experience in strategy planning, bidding, strategic HR and investment planning and strategic teaming arrangements, partnerships and alliances.

She has led several defence sector deals and policy advocacy for changes in the defense sector with industry associations including FICCI, ELCINA, DIIA and CII, according to ELP’s press release.

Gupta is a 2006 Delhi University law faculty alumnus, with an LLM from Columbia University and an MBA from Oxford University.

Prior to joining Khaitan in 2013, he had just under two-year stints with each of KPMG and Aon Hewitt.

ELP managing partner Suhail Naithani commented in the release: “While we are strengthening the defense & aerospace portfolio with the appointment of Karishma, the plethora of new laws and regulations today provide an opportunity for ELP to work closely with clients to evolve legal thought leadership efficiently and relevant to their businesses.

“To demonstrate our commitment to this space we have Ashutosh, who has joined us as a partner to lead that effort.”