Mumbai, Aug. 6: The Tata group today made public the names of the five members of the panel that will find a successor to Ratan Tata.
Among the five members are R. K. Krishna Kumar, vice-chairman of Indian Hotels Company Ltd, Tata Sons former vice-chairman N. A. Soonawala, Cyrus Mistry, the younger son of Pallonji Mistry, and Shirin Bharucha, a lawyer who has worked for several years with the Tata group .
British businessman Lord Bhattacharya is the external member on the committee. Lord Bhattacharya is founder of Warwick Manufacturing Group that provides solutions to industry through research, education and collaboration.
On Wednesday, the Tata group had announced the appointment of a panel to pick a successor to Ratan Tata. However, the identities of the panel members were not revealed then. It is expected that the committee will complete its work in the next 6-7 months and the heir to Ratan Tata will be announced in the first quarter of the next calendar year.
“By February-March, we should come up with the name of his successor,” Krishna Kumar told reporters after the annual general meeting of Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) yesterday. Earlier, Tata told IHCL shareholders that the group was working rigorously on the plan to find a successor and the process was likely to take six to seven months.
The Tata group has said the successor will get adequate time to familiarise oneself with the organisation before Ratan Tata retires in December 2012. Ratan Tata had in the past said there would be a handholding period for the heir that could last from one year to 18 months.
The selection panel will consider candidates from within the Tata group companies as well as professionals in India and overseas with global experience.
It has often been speculated that Noel Tata, Ratan Tata’s half-brother, is likely to be the successor.
However, Ratan Tata has himself said that it could also be an expat as more than 65 per cent of the group’s revenues are from overseas.
Experts believe the panel will look for someone with experience and exposure to direct the group to growth in the backdrop of its growing international presence.
