Tata Sons scouting for the next Ratan Tata

Ratan-TataIn a major announcement in the country, the $71-billion Tata Group has recently said it has already begun the process to select a successor for its chairman, Ratan N Tata, who is due to retire by the end of 2012.

Tata Sons, which is the holding company of the Group has said that it has formed a five-member selection committee, to scout within the group as well as outside and overseas.

It is to be mentioned here that while the company refrain from the divulging the names of the people in the committee but said one of the members will come from outside the country.

The company has not declined the option of appointing Noel Tata, 52, the half-brother of Ratan Tata to take the control of the group. However, people close to the development recently said that the committee is likely to have names matching the likes of R Gopalakrishnan and R K Krishna Kumar, both executive directors of Tata Sons; N A Soonawala, who retired last month and will represent Sir Dorabji Tata Trust; and A N Singh, managing trustee of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and J R D Tata Trust.

In fact, it is believed that Nusli Wadia will be on the board as he is the independent board member of Tata Steel and Tata Motors, and a long-time friend of Ratan Tata.