Our Leadership
Samir Yajnik
CEO & Executive Director
Samir Yajnik possesses over 30 years of experience in ER&D in the Automotive, Aerospace and Heavy Engineering Industries with special emphasis on enabling e-mobility solutions.Samir currently heads Electrodrive Powertrain Solutions Pvt. Ltd., also known as Electra EV in the industry. The company specializes in Design & Development, Engineering, Testing & Validating, Production and Servicing of full EV Powertrain systems. Electra EV has already delivered EV Powertrains to more than 2000 vehicles which have been running on Indian roads since the last two years.
Samir is an alumnus of IIT-Bombay and was a Research Fellow at the University of Mississippi whilst completing his MS in Mechanical Engineering. He also has a corporate finance diploma from London Business School. An entrepreneur in his early career, a product development technology evangelist for more than three decades, and a long-time active member of NASSCOM’s ER&D Council, Samir is actively involved in sustainable energy initiatives that can expedite India’s race to electrification.
Sridhar Narayan
Nominee Director
Sridhar Narayan is a Founding Partner of GEF Capital Partners and co-head of the South Asia investment practice. He is based in Mumbai, India where he focuses on middle market growth equity opportunities in South Asia.
Mr. Narayan joined Global Environment Fund as a Managing Director in 2012 before founding GEF Capital Partners in 2018. While at Global Environment Fund, Mr. Narayan was involved in investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency related businesses. He was also responsible for providing overall guidance to the South Asia investment program of Global Environment Fund. He served on the Board of ReNew Power Limited and Shakti Pumps Limited and was actively engaged in managing and exiting an investment in Greenko.
Mr. Narayan has over 23 years of experience investing in Indian public and private markets. Prior to joining Global Environment Fund, Mr. Narayan worked for JRE Partners in Mumbai, where he led minority, growth capital investments in a variety of rapidly advancing sectors within India. Prior to JRE Partners, he served as Vice President of Direct Investments (India) for American International Group (AIG). While there, he invested both the proprietary capital of AIG and third party private equity funds managed by AIG. He began his career with Zurich Asset Management India/ITC Threadneedle AMC India as the Head of Fixed Income, responsible for the portfolio management, trading, fixed income research, and the monthly communications to investors.
Mr. Narayan currently serves on the board of directors of Shakti Pumps Limited, a portfolio company of Global Environment Fund.
Mr. Narayan holds a Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology BHU (IIT-BHU) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.
Sumeet Dhar
Chief Operating Officer
Sumeet possesses more than two decades of global experience in the automotive industry. He has worked with multiple OEMs and technology companies in the USA, South Korea and India in areas of new product development and product launches. His global expertise in the area of operational excellence for product development has seen him successfully launch multiple products in off highway, commercial and passenger vehicles segments, most recent being the successful launch of EV powertrain for extended range of TIGOR EV from Tata Motors. In his current role as COO, Sumeet is responsible for handling the overall operations of the organisation, including manufacturing and New Product Development. He is passionate about leveraging electric mobility to make the world a greener place.
Sumeet is a gold medallist in Mechanical Engineering from Mumbai University.
Ganesh Srinivasan
Head, Finance
Ganesh Srinivasan has over 31 years of experience in Finance and Accounts and expertise in Treasury, Banking, Product Costing, Activity Based Costing Revenue Budget, Cost Audit, Financial Reporting, SOX Audit GST and TDS filing. Previously, in his career, Ganesh has been associated with companies like Punjab & Sind Bank, Tata Motors and Tata Motors Marco Polo Ltd.
At Electra EV, Ganesh heads the Finance function. He is a qualified Cost Accountant.
Nikhil Kumar
Head, Human Resources
Nikhil Kumar possesses over 22 years of experience Human Resources with expertise in talent acquisition, organizational restructurings, employee engagement strategies, and performance management processes. He has built strategic and operational partnerships with global hiring managers, designed and developed key talent processes such as succession planning, performance management, employee engagement processes, global mobility, diversity & inclusion. Previously, in his career, he has been associated with companies like PwC, Tata Technologies, Tata Industrial Services, and Patni Computers.
At Electra EV, Nikhil heads the Human Resources function. Nikhil holds an MBA in Human Resources from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.