Xiaomi India appoints Alvin Tse as Managing Director to lead India operations
Xiaomi India has appointed Alvin Tse as General Manager of its operations in the country, the company announced on Friday. Tse’s appointment follows the promotion of Manu Jain to Group Vice President at Xiaomi last year, and comes after recent legal challenges the company has faced in the country, including investigations into its business practices. The company also announced that Anuj Sharma, who moved to Poco over two years ago, will rejoin Xiaomi India as Chief Marketing Officer.
As part of the organizational changes announced by the company, Alvin Tse has been appointed General Manager for Xiaomi India. The former General Manager of Xiaomi Indonesia, Tse previously helped the company expand into global markets and is both a Xiaomi Global founding team member and Poco founding member.
According to the company, Muralikrishnan B, Chief Operating Officer; Raghu Reddy, Chief Business Officer, and Sameer BS Rao, Chief Financial Officer, led the company’s India operations after Manu Jain was promoted to Group Vice President last year. Jain is currently responsible for International Strategy, which includes International Marketing and PR.
The company also announced that Anuj Sharma is returning to Xiaomi India as Chief Marketing Officer, where he will manage the company’s overall brand and marketing strategy. Sharma had earlier moved to spin-off brand Poco as Country Director more than two years ago.
The changes in Xiaomi India’s organisation come amid legal challenges the company is facing in the country. Earlier in January, the company was asked by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to pay $84.5 million (approximately Rs. 660 crore) for alleged evasion of import duties. Income tax officials also froze $478 million (approximately Rs. 3,700 crore) worth of the company’s deposits in local banks, according to a report.
Meanwhile, the company has also successfully challenged another $725 million (approximately Rs. 5,600 crore) block of its funds through the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged illegal overseas transfers. A lawsuit filed by the company alleged that its top executives had faced “physical violence”, threats and coercion by the ED — claims refuted by the investigating agency, while the Chinese Foreign Ministry asked the government to ensure that Chinese companies were not discriminated against.
