CEAT’s Kumar Subbiah recognised by CII amongst leading CFOs of the year

CEAT, one of India’s leading tyre manufacturers has announced that its Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Kumar Subbiah has been recognised among the Leading CFOs of the year by CII at the 2nd edition of the CFO Excellence Awards in 2022.

He was recognised in the Auto Category for his work at the company in business partnering, capital allocation and driving operational excellence.

The tyre maker says under Subbiah’s guidance and leadership, CEAT has put in place several systems and processes that have helped enhance corporate governance standards and compliances. The Finance team has also emerged as a true partner to the business, finding the optimum balance between growth and leverage to help the organisation meet its strategic objectives.

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As a result of its efforts to bring efficiencies in working capital across all elements that helped in making  Rs 750 crore of cash available to invest in businesses over the last few years. It has also undertaken several other initiatives including sourcing raw materials efficiently & competitively through strategic sourcing and tie-ups with partners.

Initiatives in driving efficiencies in cashflows and funding helped in bringing down interest costs. The company also upgraded its SAP to SAP HANA and automated various operational activities through the deployment of RPAs and blockchain which has seen it be commended as one of the best in digital adoption in finance by the industry.

CEAT states it was one of the first 30 companies in India to adopt integrated reporting in its annual report. Another key initiative that has helped CEAT bridge the margin gap has been leveraging cross-functional teams to identify large cost-saving opportunities through a structured zero-based approach to costs.

What started off as a pilot during the pandemic, has now become a practice at CEAT to identify a few large programs every year to drive large cost savings leveraging technology and a structured Quality Based Management (QBM) approach.

Kumar Subbiah said, “I am thrilled to be recognised by CII as one of the leading CFOs of the year. I believe this award is a recognition of all that we have been doing as a company to drive business excellence using a Quality Based Management (QBM) approach that has delivered results for the business. We hope that this award marks another milestone in our journey as we set new benchmarks in the industry in delivering a safe, sustainable, and smarter future.”

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) CFO Excellence Awards recognise and acknowledge outstanding capabilities and achievements in the Finance function.