Tata Motors makes major leadership rejig, appoints Shailesh Chandra as MD & CEO

Tata Motors

Tata Motors announced a series of top-level leadership changes on Friday. Shailesh Chandra has been appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, from October 1 for a period of three years till September 30, 2028.

Shailesh Chandra will continue to serve as the Managing Director of Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Limited, the electric vehicle entity and wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, the exchange filing said.

Tata Motors said Girish Wagh and Shailesh Chandra will lead commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle entities as part of the demerger process.

The Mumbai-based auto major's commercial vehicles business and its related investments would be housed in one entity, while the passenger vehicles business, including PV (Passenger Vehicle), EV (Electric Vehicle), JLR ( Jaguar Land Rover), and its related investments, will be part of the other firm.

In a regulatory filing, the automaker said its board has approved the appointment of Girish Wagh to the board of TML Commercial Vehicles Ltd -- the proposed listed entity in which the commercial vehicles business of the automaker would be demerged -- as an Additional Director, Managing Director and CEO effective October 1, 2025.

The company’s Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) PB Balaji has resigned and will step down on November 17. PB Balaji will take charge as the CEO of JLR Automotive in the UK, effective the same day.

Following his exit, Dhiman Gupta has been appointed as the new CFO of Tata Motors, also effective November 17, the company said in an exchange filing.

Shailesh Chandra: The electric mobility strategist now at the helm

Tata Motors has appointed Shailesh Chandra as its new Managing Director and CEO effective October 1. Chandra, who currently serves as Joint MD of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd, has been instrumental in shaping the company’s electric mobility strategy. He joined Tata Motors in 2016 as Head of Corporate Strategy and Business Transformation, later rising to President of the Electric Mobility Business.

Before Tata Motors, Chandra was with Tata Sons (2013–2016), working in Group Strategy and the Chairman’s Office. An alumnus of Banaras Hindu University (B.Tech, Mechanical Engineering) and S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (Executive MBA), he also serves as a Non-Executive Director on the boards of Tata Technologies, Fiat India Automobiles, and overseas entities such as Trilix S.r.l., Italy, and Tata Motors Design Tech Centre Plc, UK.

P.B. Balaji: The veteran CFO moves to JLR 

Pathamadai Balachandran Balaji, who has been Tata Motors’ Group CFO since November 2017, will step down on November 17 to take over as CEO of Jaguar Land Rover Automotive, UK. Balaji, a Tata Motors veteran of eight years, is credited with steering the company through financial restructuring and transformation.

Balaji’s career spans over two decades at Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), where he served as Executive Director – Finance & IT and CFO. Starting as a management trainee in 1993, he held senior roles across finance and supply chain, including stints in London, Singapore, and Switzerland with Unilever.

Dhiman Gupta: The new CFO on board

Taking over as CFO on November 17 is Dhiman Gupta, currently CFO of Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. Gupta joined Tata Motors in August 2023 as Head of Treasury, Investor Relations, and M&A. Prior to this, he spent over 15 years with Standard Chartered Bank, where he worked on mergers and acquisitions.

Gupta holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. Alongside his new CFO responsibilities, he also serves as a Non-Executive Director on the boards of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd, Fiat India Automobiles, and Tata Motors Design Tech Centre Plc, UK.

Besides, the company has appointed Sudha Krishnan as an Additional, Non-Executive Independent Director of the company, for a tenure of five years commencing from October 1, 2025.

Tata Motors said Hanne Sorensen will continue to be a director on the Board of Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc. UK, Kosaraju Veerayya Chowdary and Guenter Karl Butschek will join the Board of TML Commercial Vehicles Ltd.