Growth Drivers

ANISH SHAH AND RAJESH JEJURIKAR LEAD M&M'S CHARGE INTO A STRONGER FUTURE.

- BY NEVIN JOHN

IN 2023, when the Indian men's 4x400-metre relay team qualified for the World Athletics Champi- onships final for the first time, Anand Mahindra cheered them on social media, comparing the racers to cheetahs. Mahindra has never been particularly attached to relay races-where teammates hand over the baton, one runner to the next, to reach a common goal-but it's hard to miss the analogy with how his flagship company, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), delegates respon- sibilities. In that sense, Anish Shah (MD & CEO, Mahindra Group) and Rajesh Jejurikar (executive director & CEO, auto and farm sectors, M&M) are the dynamic anchors of Mahindra's relay—one stops where the other begins.

The credit for M&M's rebound through its classic SUV play and electric transition, therefore, goes to both. If Shah set the foundation by focussing on the core 'authentic SUV' business, Jejurikar took the baton to engineer, design, and manufacture marquee ICE vehicles, including the XUV700, Thar Roxx, Scorpio-N, and the XUV 3XO—alongside the eSUVs BE6 and XEV 9e. The company has also created two dedicated plat- forms—INGLO for EVs and NU_IQ for multi-energy vehicles.

The numbers bear proof. In FY25, the company's SUV volumes grew 20% to 5,51,487 units. During the April-September period, 24,575 EVs were sold—an increase of 858%. This surge lifted Mahindra's EV share to about 27.7% in the first half of FY26, up from 9.6% in H1 FY25. The rising share boosted the company's stand- alone revenues to ₹1.18 lakh crore (up 17% YoY), and profit after tax (PAT) to ₹11,855 crore (up 11.39%), in FY25.