Chandrasekaran chairs first meeting as Tata Sons head

Mumbai, Feb 21 (IANS) Natarajan Chandrasekaran on Tuesday took over as head of Tata Sons Ltd from Chairman Emeritus Ratan N. Tata and chaired its first Board meeting.

"Chandrasekaran chaired his first Board meeting as Chairman of Tata Sons Ltd," said the principal investment holding firm in a statement here.

Tata, 79, returned to head the holding firm as an interim Chairman after its previous Chairman Cyrus Mistry, 48, was sacked on October 24, leading to a bitter boardroom battle in the country's largest corporate house, with over 100 operating firms.

"I welcome Chandra, who has successfully displayed his leadership in his career at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). I am sure he will bring considerable value to his leadership role in the Tata Group in the years ahead," said Tata on the occasion.

Chandrasekaran, 54, was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of the Indian IT bellwether (TCS) since 2009 prior to his appointment on January 12 to head the holding firm of the $104-billion Tata Group.

"In my new role, I will focus on three strategic priorities: bring the group closer to leverage its collective strength; reinforce a leader's mindset among the operating firms and drive their operating performances across the group; bring greater rigour to our capital allocation policies and deliver superior returns to our shareholders," asserted Chandrasekaran.

Chandrasekaran's first Board meeting follows his appointment as Chairman of group operating companies, including Tata Power, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and TCS.

"I look forward to working with colleagues, management teams and Boards of the companies towards achieving these goals," said Chandrasekaran in the statement.

Noting that it was an honour to lead the Tata Group on the eve of its 150th anniversary, the new Chairman said the Group occupied a unique place in the hearts and minds of millions of Indians and has an important presence the world over.

"I wish Chandra every success for the future," added Tata.

Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata Group is a global enterprise, which operates in about 100 countries the world over to improve the quality of life of the communities it serves through stakeholder value creation based on leadership with trust.

As the principal investment holding firm and promoter of Tata companies, 66 per cent of its equity share capital is held by philanthropic trusts, which support education, health, livelihood generation and art and culture.

The Group employs about 660,000 people. Each of its company, or enterprise operates independently under the guidance and supervision of its own Board of directors and shareholders.

The Group's 29 publicly-listed enterprises with a combined market capitalisation of $116.41 billion include Tata Steel, Tata Motors, TCS, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Teleservices, Titan, Tata Communications and Indian Hotels.

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