V V R Sastry is CMD, Bharat Electronics Limited

Banglore, Feb 1: Mr V V R Sastry (57) has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director of premier Defence Public Sector Undertaking Bharat Electronics Limited(BEL), with effect from February 1, He succeeds Mr Y Gopala Rao, who retired on superannuation on January 31, 2007.

Mr V V R Sastry was Director (Marketing) of BEL before his elevation as CMD. During his tenure as Director (Marketing) he took initiatives to bring in marketing orientation to the organization and gave a strong thrust to exports.

After graduating with two degrees - in Science and Engineering (Electronics&Communication) from Andhra University, he joined BEL-Bangalore in 1969 as Probationary Engineer. He has 38 years of experience in diverse areas such as development and engineering, manufacturing, project management, technology management and marketing.

Mr Sastry has rich experience in various fields of defence electronics like military communication, electronic warfare and strategic components.

He has widely travelled abroad. He has worked for 13 months in the Development Laboratories of Philips (Mullard), UK, on electronic circuit design and development of microprocessor based electrical appliances.

He also headed BEL's New York office for three years, during which he had extensive interactions with the US Department of Commerce and State.

He is a Senior Assessor for the CII-EXIM Bank Business Excellence Modeland he is on the Board of BEL Optronic Devices Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of BEL.

UNI