This IIT-IIM alumnus emerges as Tata Group’s ‘highest-paid’ CFO

Mint could not independently confirm the development.

As per media reports, the pay of chief financial officers (CFOs) within the group also experienced an increase ranging from 6 to 35 percent.

In the fiscal year 2023, the highest-paid Chief Financial Officer (CFO) within the Tata Group is not from CS or Tata Steel. Pathamadai Balachandran Balaji, who assumed the role of CFO at Tata Motors in 2017, has emerged as the highest-earning CFO within the Tata Group for FY23.

Prior to his tenure at Tata Motors, Balaji served as the CFO of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL). He took over the position from C. Ramakrishnan.

What is the salary of PB Balaji?

Pathamadai Balachandran Balaji’s annual remuneration witnessed a 21 percent increase from FY22, bringing his total earnings in FY23 to ₹16.73 crore. This notable raise made him the highest-paid employee at Tata Motors as well as the highest-paid CFO within the Tata Group.

In the previous fiscal year, FY21-22, Balaji’s pay package amounted to ₹12.73 crore. In FY23, his pay package included various components such as a basic salary of ₹2.93 crore, benefits, perquisites, and allowances totaling ₹4.94 crore, a commission, bonus, and performance-linked incentive of ₹5 crore, retirement benefits of ₹36 lakh, and stock options/sweat equity worth ₹3.4 crore.

Contrary to Balaji’s achievement of becoming the highest-paid CFO in the Tata Group, Koushik Chatterjee, the executive director and CFO of Tata Steel, experienced a slight decrease in his remuneration. In FY22, Chatterjee held the position of the highest-paid CFO within the group, earning a total remuneration of ₹15.17 crore. However, in FY23, his compensation declined by 6 percent to ₹14.21 crore. This decline in remuneration coincided with Tata Steel’s Profit after Tax (PAT) dropping to one-fifth of its value in FY22.

Education, Career of PB Balaji

Balaji, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, holds a post-graduate management degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. He initiated his professional journey with Unilever in 1995, where he occupied various corporate finance positions across different locations including Asia, Switzerland, the UK, and India.

Balaji’s extensive experience in the corporate sector spans over two decades, making him well-versed in global finance matters. According to an ET Auto report, he has been leading the finance function as the Chief Financial Officer of Hindustan Unilever since 2014, overseeing a $6 billion enterprise. Prior to that role, he served as the Chief Accountant of the Unilever Group in London.

Updated: 08 Jul 2023, 08:53 AM IST