Bajaj General Insurance has picked Deepak Reddy to succeed Tapan Singhel as MD and CEO of the Indian general insurer, subject to regulatory approval, parent Bajaj Finserv said in a stock exchange filing on Friday.
Reddy will join as CEO designate on 1 January 2027 and take charge on 1 April 2027.
The handover aligns with the IRDAI’s 15-year cap on how long MDs, CEOs and whole-time directors can serve continuously. Singhel will stay in the role until 31 March 2027.
Reddy knows the group well. He previously spent 17 years with Bajaj Finserv, where he ran the rural, insurance and gold loan businesses at Bajaj Finance and was the group’s first head of HR. He most recently served as CEO of Manappuram Finance and earlier worked at American Express, Standard Chartered Bank and MIRC Electronics.
“Few leaders have the distinction of building an institution from the ground up. Tapan is one of them,” said Sanjiv Bajaj, chairman and managing director of Bajaj Finserv. He said Singhel had steered the insurer from its years as a joint venture to full Bajaj ownership, building a reputation for “underwriting discipline, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to customers”.
“I am confident that Deepak will build on the strong foundation laid by Tapan and his team, unlock new opportunities and take the company to greater heights,” Bajaj added.
Looking back, MD and CEO Singhel said the aim from the start was to build an organisation that would redefine how insurance is understood, delivered and experienced. “That has meant challenging conventional thinking, reimagining distribution, pioneering industry-first initiatives and have the conviction to take bold decisions in our customer’s interest.”
Singhel added he expects the new team to “continue to push boundaries, find better solutions to customer concerns and stay true to our purpose”.
The insurer, formerly Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, took its new name after Bajaj Finserv bought Allianz’s 26% stake. It was India’s third-largest general insurer in FY2025-26, with gross direct premiums up 8.2% to ₹231.79bn (US$2.4bn).
