Successor must maintain our values: Ratan Tata

Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata, named among the most powerful global business heads, says if he has a firm successor in place after the small car goes into production, it would be a “terrific time to step away.”

“I do not want to go out on a wheelchair,” he told the weekly Business World in reply to a question about the succession issues in comparison with that faced by his predecessor J. R. D. Tata.

Realistically his successor would need up to 18 months as handover time, Mr. Ratan Tata said in the interview. “It should not be longer because the way things work, there would be tremendous pressure to unseat that person.

“It should be stated and that person should become known for filling the position and not just waiting in the wings. I know what happened in my case.”

Mr. Tata said his successor should have values and that was one of the issues that made succession so difficult. “The person must maintain our values, because they are, in a manner of speaking, the DNA of the group, the crown jewel of the group.

“You could play the game that others play, and you would probably grow faster and you would probably be more profitable, but you would be just like everyone else.”

Expressing satisfaction with the progress of the Tata group and companies such as Tata Tea, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and TCS, he said: “We need to do much more... We are not doing enough in terms of really generating IPRs [intellectual property rights], really getting involved into R&D as against just product development.”

On the problems he envisaged in the near-future for group companies, he said: “Not all of their succession is very clear and not all the management is deep enough to take care of sudden death or departure.”

Asked whether Indian companies going abroad could hurt the country, he said: “I think it will. You will see established companies going overseas and establishing a robust base outside India, and into India would come the opportunistic companies of the world.”

His comment comes on the heels that the Tata Steel completing acquisition of the Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus for about $13 billion, the biggest buyout by an Indian company.

‘Not leaving India’


He, however, termed “misconception” any idea of Tatas leaving India. “We have not left India. We have a high level of investment in India compared to overseas.”

Mr. Tata said: “We believe that in six-seven years we can have 30 million tonnes [of steel] from scratch in this country if we get captive iron ore and coal mines. But there is uncertainty, so if there is opportunity we will go outside India.” — PTI