Jacob is the founder of the award winning Zindia group based in New Zealand with subsidiaries in USA and South Africa with 26 years of experience in marketing of Pine and Eucalyptus, ship chartering and the management of sustainable timberlands.

Zindia promotes export of Eucalyptus from Uruguay and from Pine from Germany, South Africa, USA, Uruguay and Argentina to India besides China , Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Dubai.

Jacob pioneered the exports of Pinus radiata logs, lumber and engineered wood products from New Zealand to India from 1997. He led the development India as a market for imported soft woods from zero to 1.8million JAS CBM, making it the third largest market for New Zealand. His companies acquired and managed Pine plantations from Weyerhaeuser and Rayonier in New Zealand.

Jacob is passionate about sustainable plantation forestry and is an acknowledged , “India Timber Expert” with presentations at the Conferences of World Forestry Center, Portland, USA and Global Log & Lumber Conference in Vancouver BC, Canada.

Jacob was the member of New Zealand’s Ex-Prime Minister Sir John Key’s India delegation representing the Forestry/timber sector to India in 2011 and 2016. He was also a member of New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peter’s India delegation in 2020. He was the executive committee member of the India New Zealand Business Council and the MBA advisory board of Victoria University. He is a member of the Forest Product Export Committee of New Zealand. He has been awarded for his role in successfully promoting Rubber wood globally as an Eco-¬friendly timber, has been an advisor on organic farming to the board of Agricultural Export Development Authority of India and has been a Member of the Global Rubber Wood Project of ITC/ UNTCTAD/WTO.

Outside of work, Jacob is a media publisher and owns the ethnic fortnightly Indian Newslink known for its authentic news and motivational events. He is also a keen practitioner of yoga, meditation and organic lifestyle.