New Delhi: Navratna Defence Public Sector Undertaking Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has announced the appointment of Hari Kumar R as Director (Research & Development) on its Board, effective May 2. Prior to this elevation, he was serving as General Manager (Technology Planning) at the company.
Kumar brings with him a distinguished career spanning over 35 years in the field of electronics and defence technology. He joined BEL on May 1, 1989, as a Probationary Engineer after graduating with a B Tech in Electronics & Communication from the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Throughout his career at BEL, Kumar has been closely associated with Development and Engineering (D\&E), contributing significantly to manufacturing support through high-quality designs and engineering documentation. He was instrumental in the development of India’s first 65-Kelvin C-band and Extended-C-band Low Noise Amplifiers, used in Satcom earth stations by VSNL and Doordarshan. He also led teams that pioneered the use of Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology in transmitters for communication and radar applications, and the development of C-Band Quad Transmit-Receive Modules for phased array radars.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Kumar led efforts that resulted in BEL achieving ISO 13485:2016 Medical Standard certification within 45 days and third-party evaluation of BEL’s ICU Ventilator System. Under his leadership, BEL successfully completed the Pre-Dispatch Inspection of 30,000 ventilator systems — comprising 1.5 lakh sub-systems — within three and a half months.
Between 2020 and 2022, he played a pivotal role in the turnaround of the Components Strategic Business Unit (SBU), accelerating procurement and scaling up production across multiple product lines. As GM (Technology Planning), he was focused on expediting R\&D processes and overseeing critical technology projects.
Kumar’s contributions have been widely recognized. His teams have filed several patent applications and received multiple accolades, including BEL’s R\&D Awards, SODET Awards, and Raksha Mantri Awards. Known for his collaborative leadership style, he emphasizes the importance of every function in achieving organizational goals and credits his growth to the support of dedicated seniors and colleagues.
With his wealth of experience and proven track record, Kumar R is expected to provide strong leadership to BEL’s R\&D initiatives as the company continues to play a key role in India's defence electronics ecosystem.
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