Balaje Rajan Appointed Group CSO at Jaguar Land Rover

Jaguar Land Rover has named Balaje Rajan as its group chief strategy officer (CSO), with the appointment taking effect on 1 April 2026. Rajan will relocate to the UK and report directly to the JLR chief executive. Rajan currently holds the position of chief strategy officer and head of international business across Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility. Following the move, he will retain a supporting role in strategic collaborations at Tata Motors alongside his new responsibilities at JLR.

Before joining Tata Motors, Rajan spent time at Tata Strategic Management Group, where his work spanned EV strategy, go-to-market planning, battery ecosystem development and passenger vehicle recovery programmes across several group businesses.

This is being seen as Tata Motors' push to enable better coordination between its India passenger vehicle arm and JLR's global operations. Rajan is likely to focus on platform sharing, electrification strategy and technology alignment, areas of growing importance as both businesses expand their electric vehicle line-ups.

The timing is also significant given Tata Motors' development of its Avinya EV range, which is set to draw on knowledge and select technologies from JLR. The group has moved towards a more measured approach to cross-brand collaboration, blending in-house development with targeted use of JLR's EV expertise, rather than building entirely on shared platforms.

Rajan has played a central role in shaping Tata Motors' combined combustion and electric vehicle strategy, as well as its international expansion plans, covering product direction, platform choices and new market entry.