The board of directors of commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland has appointed K M Balaji as Whole-Time Director for a period of two years with effect from May 28, 2026.
Balaji currently serves as the President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer of the company and brings with him more than three decades of experience within Ashok Leyland.
Over three decades with Ashok Leyland
The company said Balaji has had a distinguished career spanning 32 years and started his professional journey in the internal audit function.
Over the years, he has built extensive expertise across several finance domains including Treasury, MIS & Budgets, Costing, Investor Relations, Business Finance, Pricing and Product Cost Engineering, as well as Indirect Taxes.
He has also played a key role in handling Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) documentation, enterprise valuation for stake sales and evaluation of mergers and acquisitions proposals undertaken by the company.
Played key role in fund raising activities
Ashok Leyland said Balaji has also been actively involved in managing cross currency interest rate swaps (CCIRS) and has raised more than ₹2,000 crore through placement of Non-Convertible Debentures.
In addition, he independently handled the finance function at the company’s bus assembling plant in Leeds, United Kingdom, for nearly a year.
Recognition and industry roles
Balaji was recognised as the Leading CFO of the Year 2024-25 by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for Excellence in Turnaround.
He currently serves as a Member of the Tamil Nadu State Council (TNSC) and is also the Chairman of the CFO Forum of TNSC under CII.
He had earlier served as Co-convener for the Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee of CII during 2018-19.
Holds positions in automotive industry bodies
Apart from his responsibilities at Ashok Leyland, Balaji is presently the Chairman of the Finance Committee of Global Automotive Research Centre (GARC) under the National Automotive Board (NAB), Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India.
He is also a Member of the Governing Council of the National Automotive Board under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and holds directorship positions in several associate companies.