Mr. Parag Rao

Parag Rao has joined the Mahindra Group w.e.f. 27th October 2025, as Growth Leader - Financial Services. He has been appointed to the Mahindra Group Executive Board (GEB). He has also been deputed to Mahindra Finance and as a member of the Mahindra Finance Steering Committee tasked to diversify beyond vehicle financing and to win in the digital space by leveraging existing tech strengths, thus creating scale in each of its business segments.

Parag is an Electrical Engineer from REC Jamshedpur and an MMS from S.P Jain Institute of Management Mumbai. He has a total of 36 years of experience across FMCG & Retail Banking sectors. He has worked in companies such as Crompton Greaves, Cadburys, Hindustan Unilever, Pepsico India, IBM Global Services, and HDFC Bank.

Over his 36 years, Parag has worked extensively in Sales & Distribution across multiple geographies in India and several Product / Brand stints. He has developed a keen understanding of driving scale growth across product categories and diverse geographies including semi-urban & rural India. His brand stints have given him extensive insights into consumer behaviour, building profitable product portfolios, customer engagement, and customer satisfaction as strategic levers of market dominance.

In his longest stint at HDFC Bank, Parag was responsible for multiple P&L’s and pan-India teams. He has played a leadership role in driving HDFC Bank to be a market leader in the Payments business. At a critical juncture for the bank in 2020, he also headed and spearheaded the Technology & Digital Transformation of the Bank to transform it from a conventional to a truly digital-enabled bank. He has also headed the Liability Product Group and Marketing function for the Bank, responsible for growing the Liability franchise, High Network Programs, 3rd Party Distribution products, Branding, and Consumer Analytics.

He has played stellar growth roles sitting on the Boards of HBL Global (HDFC Bank’s Sales Subsidiary), since merged with HDB Financial Services, HDFC Ergo (Non-Life Insurance subsidiary of HDFC Bank), and National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). He has also played pivotal roles on the Asia Pacific Client Council of VISA Inc. and the Global Advisory Board of Diners International Inc.