Meet IIT-IIM alumnus who led Rs 196,000 crore Ratan Tata company’s turnaround, became highest-paid CFO, his salary is...

When pandemic struck and the world went into a lockdown, Tata Motors found itself confronting a crisis. In 9 weeks, the automotive giant had sold just 3 trucks but had burnt Rs 8,500 crore cash. Tata Motors CFO PB Balaji was the man who convinced stakeholders to hang on and keep their confidence in the company.

Balaji is a top executive with a knack to try something different since his IIT and IIM days. He was at the centre of the bold decision to make Tata Motors debt-free. It proved decisive to restore the confidence in Tata Motors top leadership. He brought a frugal approach to the Rs 196,000 crore market cap company, making it lean and flexible.

For leading the turnaround of finances at Tata Motors, Balaji earned due recognition and record. Already one of the highest paid CFOs in the Ratan Tata-led Tata Group, he became the top earner among peers in FY23 with a take-home salary of Rs 16.73 crore, Financial Express reported. Balaji's salary saw a meteoric rise of 31% from Rs 12.73 crore last year.

Balaji became the top paid CFO within the group overtaking Koushik Chatterjee of Tata Steel, whose salary dipped slightly from Rs 15.17 crore to Rs 14.21 crore. Balaji is a mechanical engineer from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta. Before joining Tata Motors in 2017, Balaji was the CFO of FMCG major HUL.