Former finance secretary Vijay Kelkar joins TCS as independent director

IT services, business solutions and outsourcing major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today announced the appointment of Vijay Kelkar, a former finance secretary to the Government of India, and Ishaat Hussain, finance director of Tata Sons, to the board of directors of the company with effect from 5 January 2010.

With the addition of these two new directors, the total strength of the TCS board increases to twelve, of which six, including Kelkar, the most recent addition, are independent.

Kelkar holds a doctorate in development economics from the University of California at Berkeley and has worked in the Government of India in key posts, including as advisor to minister of finance, finance secretary, secretary of ministry of petroleum and natural gas and, most recently, as chairman of the Thirteenth Finance Commission.

He also served on several government task forces, including as chairman of implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act.

Kelkar represented the government of India on global forums as an executive director at the International Monetary Fund and as director at United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Ishaat Hussain joined the board of Tata Sons as an executive director on 1 July 1999, prior to which, he served as executive director, finance at Tata Steel for almost 10 years.

He is also the chairman of Voltas and Tata Sky and serves on the boards of several Tata group enterprises, including Tata Steel, Tata Industries, Tata Teleservices and Titan Industries.

Hussain is also a public interest director of Bombay Stock Exchange.