T. Suvarna Raju, who has a distinction of being granted the first patent in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in January 2002, has been entrusted Additional Charge as Chairman, HAL. He took over from Dr R.K. Tyagi. “Given the high expectation built around the company, my priorities would be to concentrate on operational excellence, and build the company as technology powerhouse”, says Raju. He is committed to set the HAL as one of the best examples that align with ‘Make in India’ endeavour of the Government of India and he believes that doing so may be a challenging job in the aviation filed, however not impossible because he strongly believes that “the Best of Technologies can never be bought, it can only be developed”. “I would like HAL to grow as knowledgebased organisation”, he emphasises.

Born in P. Vemavaram of Tanuku (West Godavari) district in Andhra Pradesh, Raju, an engineering gratudate, joined HAL on June 26, 1980, as management trainee. Unfazed by the extreme work hours and challenging goals, Raju not only continued to deliver and meet his professional goals and targets, but also continued perusing is academic interests. Raju, attended prestigious Indian Institute of Technology at Chennai. He was selected and attended the elitist National Defence College. Raju also undertook academic programme at National Law School of India University relating to intellectual property rights. He obtained his masters in business administration as well as masters of philosophy in deference and strategic studies.