Alagesan Thasari has been appointed as Managing Director (MD) for India at Coats, where he will lead the company’s India business operations, growth strategy and sustainability initiatives. He announced the development through a post on LinkedIn.
Thasari joined Coats in May 2026 after serving for nearly five years at SKF Group across multiple leadership roles. Most recently, he was Director and Head of Automotive Business for India, South East Asia and ANZ from October 2022 to April 2026, overseeing business operations, strategy, engineering, product development and supply chain functions across the region.
Previously, he served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Industrial and Automotive businesses at SKF India and South East Asia from August 2021 to November 2023, leading research and development, innovation management, engineering and manufacturing technologies.
Before joining SKF, Thasari spent three years at Alstom from September 2018 to August 2021, where he served as Global Vice President Product Management and Engineering for India and South East Asia as well as Managing Director of the Global Engineering and Technology Center.
Earlier in his career, he worked for over a decade at Caterpillar Inc across leadership roles in engineering, product development and supply chain management between October 2008 and September 2018. He also held roles at Wipro, Perlos, Bharti Airtel and TVS Motor Company earlier in his career.
Alongside his corporate responsibilities, Thasari has also been serving as Board Member on the International Advisory Board at Durham University Business School since July 2025.






