Tata: Big picture

New Delhi, April 11: Tata group chief Ratan Tata today resigned as the chairman of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), its international long -distance telecom company.

The group also announced an additional investment of Rs 10,000 crore by August 2006.

The VSNL board today accepted the resignation of Ratan Tata and appointed Subodh Bhargava, an independent director on the board since 1999, as the new chairman.

A company spokesperson said, ?The resignation enables Ratan Tata to directly control and coordinate telecom strategies of the group in India and abroad as chief mentor and strategist.?

The spokesperson added that Bhargava was the longest-serving independent director on the VSNL board and his elevation to the chairman's post would impart continuity to business.

Kishore Chaukar, managing director of Tata Industries, said the group has set a target of achieving ?leadership position? by the next financial year in all aspects of telecom services.

The capital infusion of Rs 10,000 crore during the next 12 to 16 months will raise the group?s investment in the telecom sector to more than Rs 30,000 crore.

Chaukar said, ?The formation of ?team telecom?, a group of young individuals, exemplifies the personal commitment of the group chairman to the telecom business.? The group will focus on automobiles, information technology and steel.

Tata will be directly involved and spend a significant time in coordinating the strategies of various group telecom companies, which are rapidly growing in domestic and international markets.

?A strong team of professionals in their early 40s has been created from within and outside the group to lead the telecom business over the next two decades,? Chaukar added.