Serentica Renewables names Annapurna J as CHRO

Serentica Renewables has appointed Annapurna J as its chief human resources officer (CHRO), strengthening its leadership bench as the clean energy company scales up operations in India’s renewable power sector.

The company said Annapurna will report to the group CHRO and be based in Mumbai, where she will oversee people strategy, organisational development and talent transformation across the business.

Leadership hire amid expansion push

The appointment comes as Serentica accelerates capacity build-out in the renewable energy space, positioning itself as a supplier of firm dispatchable renewable energy to industrial customers.

According to the company, Annapurna brings more than 24 years of experience across listed companies, conglomerates and high-growth organisations, with a focus on organisational transformation and workforce strategy.

Her areas of expertise include mergers and acquisitions integration, employee value proposition design, digital HR systems, succession planning and enterprise-wide cultural change.

Prior experience at Mahindra and Vodafone Idea

Before joining Serentica, Annapurna served as Group Head – Talent Management at Mahindra & Mahindra, where she worked on leadership pipeline development, succession governance and diversity initiatives.

She previously held a senior HR leadership role at Vodafone Idea, where she contributed to digital HR infrastructure development and employee value proposition redesign. Her work on post-merger cultural integration at the telecom operator was later featured as a Harvard Business School case study, according to company disclosures.

Welcoming the appointment, Ruhie Pande, Group CHRO & CMO at Serentica, Resonia and Sterlite Electric, said Annapurna’s experience would support the company’s long-term talent strategy.

She said the organisation is focused on building a “future-ready” workforce as it scales its clean energy platform, adding that people and culture remain central to its growth model.

Focus on culture and clean energy growth

In a statement, Annapurna J said she was joining Serentica at a time when India’s energy transition is reshaping industrial demand and infrastructure development.

She said the company’s focus on decarbonising energy-intensive industries presents an opportunity to build an agile and purpose-driven organisation aligned with sustainability goals.

Annapurna holds a postgraduate diploma in management from the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from the University of Calcutta.

Serentica Renewables has been expanding its renewable energy portfolio as India’s industrial decarbonisation drive accelerates, with companies increasingly seeking long-term clean power supply agreements.

The appointment of a senior HR leader with experience in large-scale transformation is likely to support the company’s organisational scaling as it builds out its project pipeline and workforce across multiple states.