Chandrasekaran chairs Tata Sons board meeting for the first time

N Chandrasekaran today chaired his first board meeting as chairman of Tata Sons, the principal investment holding company for more than 100 Tata operating companies.

Presiding over the first board meeting of the group, Chandra said he will focus on three strategic priorities of bring the group closer together to leverage its enormous collective strength; reinforce the inner strengths of operating companies to perform world-class and bring greater rigour to capital allocation policies and deliver superior returns to our shareholders.

Chandrasekaran, 53, was appointed to the top job at the Tata Group holding company following a pitched corporate battle between the directors of Tata Sons and trustees of Tata Trusts, with the group's former chairman Cyrus P Mistry amidst allegations of mismanagement and lax corporate governance hurled between the two sides.

Mistry's predecessor and the present chairman of Tata Trusts, which owns 66 per cent of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata came back to the holding company as interim chairman till a selection committee selected the business house's new chairman on 12 January, and Chandra, the managing director and chief executive officer of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was elevated to the corner office in Bombay House.

Chandra had been leading TCS, the most valuable company within the Tata group and India's largest IT services company, since 2009. He has spent his entire career at TCS starting 1987.

''I welcome Chandra, who has successfully displayed his leadership in his career at Tata Consultancy Services. I am sure he will bring considerable value to his leadership role in the Tata group in the years ahead,'' Ratan N Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, said.

''I wish Chandra every success for the future,'' he added.

 ''In my new role, I will focus on three strategic priorities: bring the group closer together to leverage its enormous collective strength; reinforce a leader's mindset among the operating companies and drive world-class operating performances across the group; bring greater rigour to our capital allocation policies and deliver superior returns to our shareholders. I look forward to working with my colleagues, the management teams and the boards of the companies towards achieving these goals,'' Chandrasekaran said ahead of the board meeting.

''It is an honour to lead the Tata Group as we near our 150th anniversary. The Tata Group occupies a unique place in the hearts and minds of millions of Indians and also has established an important presence around the world,'' h4 added.

Ahead of his inaugural board meeting as chairman of Tata Sons Chandrasekaran was also appointed as chairman of group operating companies, including Tata Power, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Consultancy Services, where he was CEO from 2009-2017.

Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata Group is a global enterprise, headquartered in India, comprising over 100 independent operating companies. The group operates in more than 100 countries across six continents.

There are 29 publicly-listed Tata enterprises with a combined market capitalisation of about $116.41 billion (as of 31 March 2016).

Tata companies with significant scale include Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Teleservices, Titan, Tata Communications and Indian Hotels.

Tata Sons is the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies.

Sixty-six per cent of the equity share capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts, which support education, health, livelihood generation and art and culture.

In 2015-16, the revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $103.51 billion. These companies collectively employ over 660,000 people.