Two new Directors have taken charge at Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) on May 1, 2016. They are Mr Girish Kumar, Director (Bangalore Complex), and Mr Nataraj Krishnappa, Director (Other Units).

Mr Girish Kumar, Director (Bangalore Complex), was Executive Director (Radar) & Unit Head of BEL-Ghaziabad Unit prior to his elevation.

Mr Girish KumarDirector Bangalore Complex, BEL

Mr Girish Kumar joined BEL-Ghaziabad as a Probationary Engineer in 1979 after completing his BE (Mech.) from MITS, Gwalior. Over a period of next 30 years, he worked in Ghaziabad, Kotdwara and Bangalore Units of the Company and headed Production, Materials Management, Quality Management and Services Divisions.

In August 2009, he was elevated as General Manager of BEL’s Export Manufacturing SBU. He was transferred to Corporate Office to head Total Quality Management (TQM) in 2010. In June 2011, he was posted as General Manager (HR) at BEL-Bengaluru. In July 2012, he moved to Ghaziabad Unit as GM (Radar) & Unit Head. Under his leadership, the Unit was awarded second level in the CII Exim Bank Award for Business Excellence and was also certified for CMMI level 3.

Mr Girish Kumar is a qualified assessor for ISO 9001:2000 and Business Excellence. He has participated in the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) study mission on TQM in July 2008. He has authored a book on ISO 9000 which was published in 1996. He has been profiled by Prof T V Rao in the book “100 Managers in Action”. He is keen on trekking and literature.

Mr Nataraj Krishnappa, Director (Other Units), was GM (Missile System) at BEL-Bengaluru before his elevation.

Mr Nataraj KrishnappaDirector Other Units, BEL

Mr Nataraj Krishnappa joined BEL-Ghaziabad on March 1, 1984, after graduating in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Engineering, University of Mysore. In 1986, he was transferred to BEL’s Panchkula Unit, where he put in 15 years of service. Panchkula Unit was in its formative stage and he belongs to the first batch of engineers to be posted to the unit. He has worked in various departments responsible for manufacturing and procurement functions. He headed Product Group-I and has made significant contributions to the manufacture of Communication equipment such as Handheld Radio and STARS V Manpack Radio as well as Encryption products.

In the year 2000, he was nominated for the Six Sigma programme in BEQI and subsequently did a project in optimising the reflow soldering process of the Crypto Card of STARS V Radio. In 2001, he was transferred to Corporate TORQUE and nominated Six Sigma Co-ordinator for the Other Units of BEL. He worked towards institutionalising the Business Excellence journey in BEL. During this period, he also worked closely with HR consultants to conduct Employee Satisfaction Surveys in the organisation.

In June 2008, he was transferred to Military Radar SBU as Project Head of Akash Missile System. Mr Nataraj Krishnappa, who is a PMP from PMI, USA, has successfully used project management concepts while executing the Akash Missile System project. Akash Missile System integrated in the country for the first time is a world-class Surface to Air Missile System that has been inducted into both the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army. He served as GM (HR) and as GM (Missile System) at BEL-Bengaluru before his elevation as Director (Other Units).

In addition to being an engineer, Mr Nataraj Krishnappa is a certified Cost Accountant (ICWA) and has done his General Management programme from IIM-Bangalore. He is also a CII EXIM Bank Excellence Award Assessor and Lead Assessor in ISO 9000, ISO 14000 & AS9100 and has carried out several audits within the organization besides three international assessments.