On her appointment as Director on the Board of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Renuka Gera, 57, has assumed charge as Director (Industrial Systems & Products) of the Public Sector Engineering and Manufacturing Enterprise. Significantly, she is the first woman employee of BHEL to reach the level of director.

Prior to this, Gera was heading BHEL’s Industry Sector business segment as Executive Director. She is an Electronics and Communication engineering graduate from Delhi College of Engineering.

Gera started her career with BHEL as an Engineer Trainee in the company’s Transmission Business Group, in 1984.

She has over 36 years of holistic and hands-on experience in various verticals of the Industry Sector segment, driving business development and diversification initiatives in Energy Storage Systems, Electric Mobility, Railway Electrification, Transportation, Defence, Transmission Systems including High Voltage Direct Current Transmission (HVDC), Renewable Energy and Water Management Systems.

Gera has an across-the-board experience in a cross-section of areas, having headed Marketing, Business Development, Engineering, Contract & Project Management, HR, Administration, Planning, Finance and Legal, besides serving in BHEL’s Bhopal manufacturing unit for 5 years. During her career span, she has had extensive involvement in HVDC projects in the country and was Project Manager of one of the largest HVDC Multi-Terminal projects in India.

Ms. Gera has earlier been sponsored by BHEL for an International Certification Programme in Business Management conducted under the aegis of the Department of Public Enterprises.