Atkins has appointed Rajesh Kalra as managing director for its Indian business as it continues to expand its worldwide design centre based in Bangalore.
Chris Birdsong, CEO, Asia Pacific and Europe, said: “Given the strategic importance of Atkins’ Indian operations, we were determined to bring in a highly capable individual to build on the success we have enjoyed over the past 15 years since we opened our Bangalore office. I’m confident that in Rajesh, we’ve found the right candidate.”
Kalra added: “Atkins’ Bangalore office is a well-established design centre but it’s my job to build on that success and make sure the quality of operations keeps improving.
“There are several things sitting in my in-tray, including the need to maintain our attractiveness to new recruits as the Indian market has high calibre engineering skills that we can take advantage of. This will help us to ensure our Bangalore operation remains flexible and efficient, providing expert engineers quickly in order to meet our customers’ expectations worldwide.”
Kalra joins Atkins from Rolta India where, as president of business operations, he was responsible for growth and leading change management initiatives.
In a career spanning 25 years in the engineering and IT sectors, he has also held key roles with Risk Management Solutions Inc (RMSI), RITES, Consulting Engineering Services and Larsen & Toubro. He holds a masters degree in civil engineering.
Atkins has over 1,000 engineers based in India, supporting sectors such as water, transportation, utilities and aerospace across the UK, Middle East and Asia Pacific.