SKF India Appoints Bhavna Panigrahi as CHRO to Strengthen Future-Ready People Leadership!
SKF India Ltd (Automotive) has announced the appointment of Bhavna Panigrahi as its Chief Human Resources Officer, effective January 1, 2026, reinforcing the company’s strategic focus on people, leadership, and organisational capability as key drivers of long-term growth. The appointment reflects SKF India’s belief that strong, inclusive, and forward-looking people leadership is essential to powering the next phase of progress in the automotive manufacturing sector.
In her new role, Bhavna Panigrahi will be responsible for shaping and leading SKF India’s overall people and organisational agenda. Her mandate spans talent management, leadership development, HR operations, industrial relations, organisational effectiveness, and culture building. Working closely with the senior leadership team, she will align human capital strategies with business priorities, ensuring that the organisation remains agile, resilient, and prepared to meet evolving market and technology demands. A strong emphasis will be placed on building a performance-driven culture rooted in inclusion, innovation, and continuous learning.
Bhavna brings with her more than 18 years of diverse human resources experience across leading organisations, with deep exposure to complex, people-intensive environments. She joined SKF India in 2022 as HR Head – Technology Development, where she played a key role in strengthening talent pipelines, enhancing employee experience, and supporting critical capability-building initiatives. She subsequently took on the role of Head HR for the Automotive business, where she led strategic interventions across workforce planning, leadership development, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). These initiatives contributed to improved organisational engagement and supported business performance during a period of transformation and change.
Her elevation to the CHRO role signals continuity as well as progression in SKF India’s people strategy. With a strong understanding of the company’s culture, values, and operating context, Bhavna is well positioned to drive integrated people solutions that support both near-term execution and long-term value creation. Her approach combines calm, purpose-led leadership with a focus on inclusive innovation—creating environments where teams are empowered to perform, adapt, and grow.
Commenting on her appointment, Bhavna Panigrahi emphasized the importance of people-centric leadership in enabling sustainable success. She noted that calm leadership and inclusive innovation are critical to unlocking creativity and resilience within organisations. As SKF India enters its next phase of growth, she expressed her commitment to building people strategies that are tightly aligned with business goals, strengthening leadership capability at all levels, and fostering an inclusive workplace where individuals and teams can thrive. She also reiterated SKF’s broader purpose of “moving people further,” underscoring the company’s responsibility to create value not only for the business, but also for employees and society at large.
The appointment of Bhavna Panigrahi as CHRO highlights SKF India’s continued investment in future-ready leadership and its recognition that people are central to competitiveness in modern manufacturing. By placing strong emphasis on talent, inclusion, and leadership development, SKF India aims to build an organisation that is capable of navigating industry shifts, embracing innovation, and delivering sustained value for customers, employees, and communities.
