Biography
Mr. Hemant Kumar is the Group Legal Advisor of Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T), an Indian multinational conglomerate. He heads the legal departments of the entire L&T Group’s India and Global Businesses.
A seasoned legal professional with over 38 years of experience, Mr. Kumar comes from a family of lawyers, corporate counsels, and judges. An expert in litigation and arbitrations under both Indian and International Laws, Mr. Kumar has dealt with cases in UK, US, France, Australia, Singapore, Middle East and Africa. He also has considerable expertise in foreign investment and FEMA regulations both for in-bound and out-bound investments.
He has also previously held senior positions at State Bank of India; Steel Authority of India; JSW Steel (formerly known as Ispat Industries); President (Legal) – Reliance ADAG and Group General Counsel - Essar Group and is widely recognized as a veteran In-house Counsel in Litigations and Arbitrations. He was also empaneled as a faculty with distinguished MBA & Engineering colleges. Interestingly, Mr. Kumar was also a Paper Setter and Examiner for the diploma course in Safety Engineering Examinations.
He has been awarded as “Chambers GC Influencers Award: India (2019)” by Chambers and Partners, London UK and “Legal Icon of India” (2020) by Legal Era Magazine. Under the leadership of Mr. Kumar, RSG London awarded Corporate Legal Department of Larsen & Toubro Ltd. as “Best Legal Department of India 2019”.
He has also been a recipient of many prestigious awards including “Jawahar Award”, one of BSP-SAIL’s highest individual honors, “Business Excellence Award” by Legal League Counsel, “General Counsel of the Year 2013” by Legal Era magazine and also by Corporate Counsel India.
The Amity University has conferred Mr. Kumar with “Honorary Professorship” in a prestigious ceremony held during the University’s Annual Convocation in February 2023. The honour was bestowed on Mr. Kumar in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the field of law.
The BW Legal World honoured Mr. Kumar, with the prestigious “Hall of Fame” award at the BW Legal World General Counsel Conclave held in July 2023.
Mr. Kumar has been conferred with “Top General Counsel” award by The Forbes India Legal Powerlist 2022 in September 2023.
The Economic Times (a Times Group enterprise) has honoured Mr. Kumar with the prestigious "General Counsel of the Year" award at the Global Legal Convention & Awards in December 2023.
Mr. Kumar has also been decorated and awarded by India Business Law Journal in March 2024, in their multinational conglomerate category and published his absorbing biography.
Asian Legal Business (ALB) has honoured Mr. Kumar with the “In-house Lawyer of the Year 2024’’ award at their ALB India Law Awards, 2024. Recently, ALB has honoured him with the “Asia's Top 15 GCs, 2024” award and it has been featured in their September 2024 magazine.