Alvin Tse will take over as General Manager of Xiaomi India, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer announced on Friday. The leadership overhaul comes following the departures of top executives as Xiaomi finds itself in the midst of an Income Tax evasion case.
The company is also embroiled in a Rs 5,500-crore remittance case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate. The probe agency had summoned Manu Jain, the company’s former Managing Director. Jain was transitioned to a global Group Vice President role last year. He has since moved to Dubai.
In a statement, Xiaomi said Tse, a Xiaomi Global founder member and former General Manager of Xiaomi Indonesia, would assume the General Manager role at Xiaomi India. “Post his transition, Alvin will join hands with the Xiaomi India leadership team and support the company’s next phase of growth,” the company said.
A founding member of Poco, a company sub-brand, Tse is a British national and “…has helped Xiaomi expand successfully into many global markets.” The Stanford University-educated executive has worked across four of the world’s largest smartphone and Internet markets, Xiaomi India said in its statement.
Since Jain’s transition, the leadership team at Xiaomi India — Chief Operating Officer Muralikrishnan B, Chief Business Officer Raghu Reddy, and Chief Financial Officer Sameer BS Rao — have been leading the company’s India business independently and will continue to drive the brand, the company said.
Also Read | Xiaomi India’s director of offline sales is leaving company
The company will further strengthen the leadership team with Anuj Sharma, who will rejoin Xiaomi India as Chief Marketing Officer. Sharma will spearhead the advancement and execution of overall brand and marketing strategy and play a role in bolstering Xiaomi’s connect with Indian consumers.
THE ALLEGATIONS
In the Income Tax case, a Reuters report, citing a source, said the Chinese company had purchased smartphones from contract manufactures in India at inflated costs, allowing it to record a smaller profit and evading corporate taxes.
The authorities blocked Rs 3,700 crore in the company’s accounts following raids at Xiaomi India’s offices in December.
In the remittances case worth Rs 5,500 crore, the company allegedly made payments to foreign entities in the guise of royalty. The case is currently in court, which has allowed the company to make only business-related payments and not royalty transactions.
During the course of investigations, Xiaomi India’s Director of Offline Sales Sunil Baby left the company. Baby was instrumental in shaping the Xiaomi’s offline presence in India.