SKF India Ltd. (Automotive) Appoints Bhavna Panigrahi as Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)

SKF India Ltd. (Automotive) has announced the appointment of Bhavna Panigrahi as its new Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), effective January 1, 2026.

As CHRO, Bhavna will lead the organization’s people and organizational strategy, with responsibility for talent management, HR operations, industrial relations, leadership development, and organizational effectiveness. She will work closely with the leadership team to support business priorities, enable long-term growth, and strengthen a culture rooted in inclusion, performance, and innovation.

Bhavna brings over 18 years of rich experience in Human Resources, having contributed to several leading organizations. She joined SKF India in 2022 as HR Head – Technology Development and later took on the role of Head HR for the Automotive business. In these roles, she spearheaded strategic initiatives across people experience, talent acquisition, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), driving impactful outcomes and strengthening business performance.

Bhavna shared: “Calm leadership and inclusive innovation unlock creativity and resilience. As SKF India enters its next phase of growth, I am committed to building people strategies that are closely aligned with business goals, strengthen leadership capability, and foster an inclusive environment where individuals and teams can thrive. At SKF, we move people further and I look forward to contributing to sustainable value creation for people, business, and society.”

Bhavna’s appointment reflects SKF’s commitment to empowering people and driving progress for employees, customers, and communities.

About SKF: Since 1907, SKF has been making some of the world’s most innovative bearings, seals, lubrication systems, condition monitoring solutions, and services to reduce friction. Less friction means more energy saved and by reducing it, we make industry smarter, more competitive, and more energy efficient, building a more sustainable future where we can all do more with less. SKF is represented in approximately 130 countries and has around 17,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2024 were SEK 98,722 million and the number of employees was 38,743. www.skf.com. ®SKF is a registered trademark of the SKF Group.