Who Is PB Balaji, First Indian To Head Tata-Owned Jaguar Land Rover

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has named PB Balaji its next Chief Executive Officer, making him the first Indian to lead the iconic British carmaker.

Currently the Group CFO at Tata Motors, Mr Balaji will step into the new role in November, following the retirement of Adrian Mardell at the end of his term.

A Tata Group veteran, Mr Balaji sits on the boards of several group companies, including Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc (UK), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, and Air India.

Who Is PB Balaji?

1. PB Balaji holds a BTech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras (1991) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM Calcutta (1993).
2. Mr Balaji began his career with Unilever in 1995, taking on senior corporate finance roles across India, Singapore, the UK, and Switzerland. He went on to serve as the Chief Financial Officer of Hindustan Unilever Limited until 2017.
3. In November 2017, Mr Balaji joined Tata Motors as Group Chief Financial Officer and was appointed as a non-executive (non-independent) director on the Board of Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc (UK) a month later. As CFO, he is a member of Tata Motors' Executive Committee,
4. He currently serves on the boards of multiple Tata Group companies, including Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, Tata Motors Finance Group, Air India, Titan Company, Tata Consumer Products, Agratas Limited (UK), and Agratas Energy Storage Solutions.
5. PB Balaji enjoys cooking and describes himself as a sous chef to his wife, as per The Financial Express.