MUMBAI. Industry major Raymond Limited has announced the strategic appointment of Bhanu Prakash Srivastava as the Chief Executive Officer of its defence business. The decision marks a significant step forward in the textile and engineering conglomerate’s ambition to establish a future-ready, technology-led defence ecosystem, leveraging India’s accelerating drive toward self-reliance in military manufacturing.
Srivastava, a distinguished alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, brings nearly four decades of elite industry experience to the role. His entire career has been defined by leadership positions at state-run Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), where he spearheaded critical national programmes spanning complex operations, research and development and advanced marketing strategies.
During his tenure as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of BEL, Srivastava oversaw a spectacular period of corporate and technological growth. Under his watch, the public sector undertaking’s market capitalisation tripled, soaring from ₹51,000 crore to an astonishing ₹1.5 lakh crore. He was instrumental in securing a massive pipeline of new orders exceeding ₹55,000 crore, launching more than 100 new defence products, and setting up dedicated artificial intelligence incubation centres to future-proof India’s military capabilities.
Srivastava’s extensive operational portfolio includes directing mission-critical military architectures. He has led highly sensitive, large-scale projects involving advanced radar systems, naval and sonar technologies, weaponised missile frameworks, electronic warfare arrays and tactical military communications.
At Raymond, Srivastava will be tasked with defining the strategic vision, managing the operational roadmap, and driving the long-term growth agenda for the company’s emerging defence vertical. The conglomerate is actively deploying strategic investments to scale-up advanced manufacturing capabilities within India.
Under his leadership, Raymond intends to smoothly transition its core engineering expertise. The company will pivot from its traditional foundation of precision engineering into higher-value defence technologies. This transformation will focus squarely on defence electronics, tactical software architecture, specialised systems integration and adjacent capabilities within the aerospace and automotive industrial sectors.
Gautam Hari Singhania, the Chairman and Managing Director of Raymond Limited, expressed strong confidence in the appointment, noting that India’s defence industry is entering a defining phase of domestic innovation and indigenisation. “Bhanu Prakash’s exceptional leadership, deep understanding of complex defence programmes, and proven track record of building high-performance organisations make him the ideal leader to spearhead Raymond’s defence journey” Singhania stated in a regulatory filing.
The move positions Raymond among an ambitious cohort of tier-one private Indian corporations capitalising on the Ministry of Defence’s sweeping structural reforms. By shifting lucrative procurement pipelines away from foreign original equipment manufacturers to domestic private players, the government has created an unprecedented opening for established engineering firms.
Accepting the role, Srivastava expressed enthusiasm about driving tech-led solutions and fostering deep strategic partnerships. He emphasised that the company’s historic legacy of manufacturing precision and quality control provides a world-class foundation to construct a globally competitive defence business. If successful, Srivastava’s appointment could firmly place the iconic lifestyle brand on the map as a trusted, high-tech supplier to the nation’s armed forces.
