The challenge
RPSG Solvanta was setting up its first solar module manufacturing plant in Jaipur. Infrastructure, equipment installation, process validation and statutory readiness were all running in parallel, and the plant could not start without the people to run it.
The mandate covered the plant’s core team: Production Head, Maintenance and MEP Head, FP&A Head, Stringer Section In-charges, quality and section leaders, and other technical and operational roles. Several needed hands-on solar module manufacturing experience, which few people in India have.
Every week of delay on a critical hire could push back commissioning. Recruitment was a workstream on the project plan, not an HR formality.
What TNSL did
Planned hiring around the launch, not the requisition list. A dedicated TNSL team mapped the plant’s full manpower requirement and ranked roles by how critical they were to the commissioning timeline. The most critical roles received focused sourcing attention first.
Learned the shop floor before screening. Recruiters were trained on solar module manufacturing, including stringing, module assembly, quality inspection, testing and maintenance, and were tested on it before screening began. That let them tell genuine module-line experience apart from look-alike CVs from adjacent industries.
Worked directly with plant leadership and the CEO. For critical positions, TNSL coordinated interviews directly with Solvanta’s operations leadership and the CEO. Decisions were made quickly, and priorities could shift as the plant approached launch.
Results
- 40+ professionals hired, from plant and functional heads to section in-charges.
- All offers released within 5 weeks.
- 35% selection hit rate, so the leadership’s interview time went to relevant candidates.
- 100% retention at 90 days: every hire was still in role three months after joining.
- On-schedule launch: the plant’s core team was in place for commissioning.
Why it matters
For a greenfield plant, recruitment succeeds only if the right team is ready on the day operations start. Treating hiring as part of project execution, prioritised by the commissioning plan, is what made five weeks possible.
Selection hit rate = candidates selected by the client ÷ candidates TNSL shortlisted and presented to the client.