Chairman-Tata Sons, N Chandrasekaran, visited Chennai twice during March: first to participate in the release of the Tamil version of TCS story written by S Ramadorai on 04 March; again on 17 March when he delivered the keynote address at the United Way’s event on Markets and Economy 2022.
Though Chandra had his schooling at Salem, collegiate education at Coimbatore (CIT) and Tiruchi (NIT), his hectic time at TCS did not leave much time for addressing meetings in Chennai. At the book release function, he mentioned: “I used to travel 200 days a year to forge relationships with clients and amalgamate the TCS culture across geographies. We were operating in different markets hiring people in these. Each market has its own culture. It was important to blend the TCS culture with these cultures.”
Despite the phenomenal success of Titan Company which had a modest beginning at Hosur as a joint venture with TIDCO, for several decades Tatas did not make large investments in Tamil Nadu. It is true TCS had been expanding massively its IT services in the state, but not much investments were made on manufacturing. For over a decade it did attempt to invest in a large facility to produce titanium from out of the ilmenite sands in Tuticorin. A full-fledged office was set up. Sadly, however, it did not receive the needed backup by successive governments and it abandoned the project.
DRAMATIC CHANGES…
There are dramatic, welcome changes in recent months thanks to the new changes in investment policy of the Centre and dynamic promotion by the state. Tamil Nadu won the prestigious Tata Electronics project against stiff competition from other states. In less than a year, this large project to produce high end electronic products was constructed and commenced production as a contract manufacturer for Apple.
In his address at the United Way, Chennai, Chandra oozed optimism: “an India plus is going to happen in every industry. It will happen in materials, in chemicals, in electronics, semiconductors and batteries, not only to meet India’s needs but also for global needs.”
Recently Chandra completed five years as Chairman of Tata Sons. The group has been seizing opportunities in vast areas and investing heavily in manufacturing and marketing capabilities.
Not long ago, there were concerns over the old, established manufacturing companies – Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Tata Power – which seemed to be in difficulties. Today they are recording handsome performance. Tata Steel, for instance, took decades to build a capacity of 10 million tonnes. With remarkable agility it has built capacity, both through organic and inorganic routes and is moving towards doubling capacity to 20 million tonnes in a very short time.
Tata Motors has also consolidated and grown remarkably through the difficult Covid years. Chandra referred to the company sharpening its focus on electric vehicles, investing on technology and robotic charging. He predicts 60 per cent of Tata Motors’ vehicles will be electric by the end of the decade and to Tata Power moving towards renewables, replacing coal in thermal plants: “there are opportunities everywhere. There is a large scope for new jobs of over 20 million in IT and 40 million in automobiles,” he said.
The Chandra effect is also seen in the bold acquisition of Air India and in aggressive media promotions. This is necessitated perhaps by Tatas expanding into the consumer products sphere. Look at the strong promotion of Tata Neu as a one stop shop for all e-commerce requirements. The acquisition of BigBasket and 1mg and expansion of marketing electronic goods through Croma have been further fortified by buying the IPL franchise. What a change for this franchise that remained for long mostly the prerogative of foreign companies like Pepsi and Vivo!
