Mumbai, July 29: Noel Tata, widely believed to be a successor to Ratan Tata, has moved to the top echelon of another Tata group company.

He is set to take over as the managing director of Tata International Ltd.

Noel Tata, 53, is the managing director of the group’s retail venture Trent Ltd.

Trent today said Tata would step down from the post following his appointment in Tata International. He would be on the Trent board as the non-executive vice-chairman.

“Noel N. Tata, with effect from August 12, will step down from his position as managing director of the company (Trent), as he is to be appointed as the managing director of Tata International. Tata will continue to remain on the board of directors of the company as the non-executive vice-chairman and consequently, will continue to be involved in the overall management of the company. A new chief executive will be appointed as soon as possible,’’ Trent informed stock exchanges today.

Tata’s new role is a sign of his growing importance within the Tata group. He was recently made the non-executive chairman of Tata Investment Corp. — a listed firm that has substantial holdings in various group companies.

A half-brother of Ratan Tata, Noel Tata is also the son-in-law of Pallonji Mistry, who is the largest single shareholder of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group. He was appointed as the managing director of Trent in March 1999. He is credited with making the Westside chain under Trent a success and venturing into other formats in retail.

Trent’s consolidated turnover increased from a mere Rs 8 crore in 1998-99 to Rs 1,137 crore in 2009-10.

Tata is considered one of the key contenders to take over the leadership of the group, which had posted a revenue of $70.8 billion for the year ended March 31, 2009. Ratan Tata, the current head, will stay on till 2012.

Later in the day, the Tata group said under Noel Tata’s leadership Tata International was expected to take on an aggressive growth path.

The company will strengthen its leather business by organic expansion and through acquisitions. It will further consolidate and grow its position in Africa and enter new geographies.