Mumbai, Sept. 7: The $62.5-billion Tata group is likely to effect a change of guard at the top.

Three top executives — B. Muthuraman of Tata Steel, S. Ramadorai of TCS and Ravi Kant of Tata Motors — are in the race for seats on the Tata Sons’ board of directors.

Ravi Kant has already stepped down as chief executive of Tata Motors on turning 65, which is the official retirement age for all executive leadership positions within the group. Ramadorai and Muthuraman will give up their executive roles later this year.

Tata Sons is the apex holding company of the group and has substantial stakes in the group’s frontline companies.

Under the revised guidelines for the composition of the board of directors, non-executive directors can continue till the age of 75 years.

“The very managers who had to retire on reaching the 65-year age limit for executive positions will be regarded as young blood on the Tata Sons board,” said a senior Tata group manager.

“Besides, Mr (Ratan) Tata believes that by pegging the retirement age at 75 years for non-executive directors, the group will benefit from the years of experience that these senior managers will bring on board,” he added.

It is not immediately clear when the Tata Sons board will be revamped.

A Tata group spokesperson refused to comment.

However, the Tata Sons board has seen the exit of two directors this year — Alan Rosling, who quit the company in February, and Syamal Gupta, who recently retired after he turned 75.

Sources said Tata Sons’ vice-chairman N.A. Soonawala was also likely to retire sometime next year. This will open up another position on the Tata Sons’ board.

Ravi Kant, Ramadorai and Muthuraman have all been involved in significant acquisitions in the past few years.

Ravi Kant was the man behind Tata Motors’ $2.3-billion buyout of Jaguar Land Rover, while Muthuraman spearheaded the $12.1-billion acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus.

Ramadorai helped TCS acquire Citigroup’s business process outsourcing arm in India for $512 million in December 2008.

All three have ratcheted up growth in the businesses they ran towards the end of their executive careers.

Recently, Muthuraman was anointed as the chairman of Tata International, an international marketing company that specialises in leather and engineering.

He is expected to retire soon as the managing director of Tata Steel but will continue to play an important role in the world’s eighth largest steel maker.

Ramadorai, who will hang up his boots as CEO and MD of TCS on October 5, has been appointed vice-chairman of the company in a non-executive role thereafter. Ramadorai was also appointed chairman of Tata Elxsi , a product design company, on Monday. He replaces Syamal Gupta.

Ravi Kant is now the vice-chairman at Tata Motors.