Tesla hires former Reliance top exec Chithra Thomas as its HR head for India

• Elon Musk’s Tesla is setting up its India operations fast and is also assembling its leadership team.
• Thomas joins Tesla after spending over six years at Reliance Retail, where she was vice president and head of HR for the company’s e-commerce initiative Ajio.com.
• Tesla, which is setting up its office in Bengaluru, Karnataka, has also reportedly shortlisted Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru for its first showroom in the country.

Elon Musk’s Tesla is setting up its India operations fast and is also assembling its leadership team. The US-headquartered electric vehicle (EV) giant has hired Chithra Thomas as its human resources (HR) lead in the country.

Thomas joins Tesla after spending over six years at Reliance Retail, where she was vice president and head of HR for the company’s e-commerce initiative Ajio.com.

In her LinkedIn profile, Thomas writes that she was the first employee in a leadership role to set up the e-commerce and technology business of Reliance Retail. “Lead a 90-member team in the organizational design, total rewards, talent acquisition, learning and development and delivery of core HR operations, systems and capabilities for 25,000 employees across 29 states in India,” she wrote.

Prior to joining Reliance Retail, Thomas worked with Walmart India for over five years and HP for over six years.

A graduate of Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai, Thomas is now one of the senior leaders for Tesla in India.

Tesla has earlier reportedly appointed Manuj Khurana as Policy and Business Development head for India operations. Khurana is an alumni of IIM Bangalore. The EV giant had also reportedly appointed its chief accounting officer Vaibhav Taneja to its board of directors in India.

Tesla, which is setting up its office in Bengaluru, Karnataka, has also reportedly shortlisted Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru for its first showroom in the country.

SEE ALSO:
Elon Musk's Tesla reportedly shortlists New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to open its first showrooms in India
By air, rail and road – how oxygen is being transported across India amidst a severe COVID-19 crisis
Inside the treacherous black market for Remdesivir in India— from private hospitals to distributors