A metallurgist, Mr. Bhat joined the Company in 2000 after having put in 22 years covering various areas of Manufacturing, Product Development, Quality, HR and IR (Industrial Relations). In Ashok Leyland, he spent his first five years managing the three manufacturing plants at Hosur, post which he spearheaded the Strategic Sourcing function. Since 2010, he has been assigned a new role of managing all the seven manufacturing plants of the Company. He is also a Fulbright Fellow from the Carnegie Melon University, USA.