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Mandar V Deo joins JK Tyre as India president
The 50-year-old engineer and MBA brings stints at Cummins and Exide Energy to one of India’s biggest tyre makers
JK Tyre & Industries has a new man at the wheel in India. The tyre giant has appointed Mandar V Deo as president, India, based in Delhi, where he will report to chairman and managing director Raghupati Singhania and managing director Anshuman Singhania.
Deo, 50, is no stranger to heavy industry. He brings over two decades of senior leadership experience, having navigated the corridors of Cummins Inc, Cummins India and Exide Energy Solutions. His academic firepower is equally formidable: a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Pune University, a master’s and a PhD from Pennsylvania State University, and an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
Raghupati Singhania wasted little time signalling ambition. “I am confident that Deo will provide strong and adept leadership and steer JK Tyre on a new growth trajectory,” he said.
The company Deo inherits is no small operation. JK Tyre has a presence in over 105 countries across six continents, operates 11 manufacturing facilities, including nine in India and two in Mexico, and churns out over 35 million tyres a year. It is also part of the global RE100 initiative, targeting 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2050, and has rolled out smart tyre technology with tyre pressure monitoring systems. Its research and technology centre, the Raghupati Singhania Centre of Excellence in Mysore, anchors product development and testing.
With a PhD engineer at the helm and a growth mandate firmly in hand, JK Tyre has made clear it is not content to simply hold its road.
