Meet Tata Power's 'fiercely independent director' who defended Cyrus Mistry
, ET Bureau|
Nov 10, 2017, 06.45 AM IST
MUMBAI: Tata Power unveiled a spectacular performance in its renewable energy portfolio along with the second quarter results recently and one man was thrilled with the results.
Nawshir Mirza, the 69-year-old independent director on the Tata Power board, had defended the firm's buyout of Welspun's renewables business against attacks by the group's parent Tata Sons in June this year saying the conglomerate's only intention was to tarnish the name of former chairman Cyrus Mistry, who was ousted in October last year.
Mirza defended the buyout in a chat with ET, pointing to its superior performance. "Welspun is the only business in Tata Power performing as expected," he said.
"The deal wasn't sprung upon the board and it wasn't a sleight of hand of the management or Cyrus Mistry. Please understand that we are not a bunch of clowns on the board; we have to be convinced about what and why something is being done," he said.
"The Welspun investigation is the property of the audit committee chairman," Mirza said. "The whistleblower policy says it's very important that any investigation has to be done discreetly and if the accused is innocent, their name cannot be tarnished. We have been obedient to the policy."
Tata Sons declined to comment on Mirza's observations. But group sources told ET there was no change in its stance that the buyout of Welspun assets was done at a valuation that cannot be justified even by the recent performance.
Mirza was brought on board of Tata Power as an independent director by Ratan Tata in 2007. Before that, he was a nominee of Jardine Matheson in Tata Industries. People who have worked with Mirza say this tall, no-nonsense but humorous independent director is a rare breed in a club that has been vilified amid plummeting standards of corporate governance.
"He is one of a dying breed of fiercely independent directors that speaks his mind without hesitation, peppered with a sense of humour," said Cyrus Mistry who broke his silence to respond to ET's request to comment on Mirza.
"The Tata Group has never been about one individual," Mistry told ET. "I have always believed that creating an institutional framework that promotes good governance is a key imperative to ensure the long-term success of the Tata Group.
Towards this end, one of my early directives to the team had been to create board effectiveness and governance guidelines for all our boards. Nawshir (Mirza) provided a great deal of input into the creation of these guidelines for board effectiveness.
As a director he provided me with honest feedback as he did to the management and his colleagues on the board."
Mirza believes new Tata chairman N Chandrasekaran has a long way to go to solve issues in Tata Power. "It is a complex business and the chairman will have to spend more time in the company to understand the issues. He can't do magic to Tata Power. It's not that simple," he said. "Maybe he is still giving more time to TCS because frankly that is the only engine keeping the group floating," Mirza said."
Tata Power will have to encash surplus assets, shares held in Tata Sons or Tata Industries can be disposed of, and the Mundra (ultra mega power project) issue too has to be addressed, he said.
Meher Pudumjee, chairperson at Thermax, said Mirza is "very straightforward, doesn't mince his words, and speaks his mind".
As for the face-off between Tata Group and Mistry, Mirza said it may have been because of a complete breakdown of communication between Mistry and Tata. "And there was maybe external pressure to throw Mistry out. But I think leaders should be allowed to make mistakes," he said.
Nawshir Mirza, the 69-year-old independent director on the Tata Power board, had defended the firm's buyout of Welspun's renewables business against attacks by the group's parent Tata Sons in June this year saying the conglomerate's only intention was to tarnish the name of former chairman Cyrus Mistry, who was ousted in October last year.
Mirza defended the buyout in a chat with ET, pointing to its superior performance. "Welspun is the only business in Tata Power performing as expected," he said.
"The deal wasn't sprung upon the board and it wasn't a sleight of hand of the management or Cyrus Mistry. Please understand that we are not a bunch of clowns on the board; we have to be convinced about what and why something is being done," he said.
"The Welspun investigation is the property of the audit committee chairman," Mirza said. "The whistleblower policy says it's very important that any investigation has to be done discreetly and if the accused is innocent, their name cannot be tarnished. We have been obedient to the policy."
Tata Sons declined to comment on Mirza's observations. But group sources told ET there was no change in its stance that the buyout of Welspun assets was done at a valuation that cannot be justified even by the recent performance.
Mirza was brought on board of Tata Power as an independent director by Ratan Tata in 2007. Before that, he was a nominee of Jardine Matheson in Tata Industries. People who have worked with Mirza say this tall, no-nonsense but humorous independent director is a rare breed in a club that has been vilified amid plummeting standards of corporate governance.
"He is one of a dying breed of fiercely independent directors that speaks his mind without hesitation, peppered with a sense of humour," said Cyrus Mistry who broke his silence to respond to ET's request to comment on Mirza.
"The Tata Group has never been about one individual," Mistry told ET. "I have always believed that creating an institutional framework that promotes good governance is a key imperative to ensure the long-term success of the Tata Group.
Towards this end, one of my early directives to the team had been to create board effectiveness and governance guidelines for all our boards. Nawshir (Mirza) provided a great deal of input into the creation of these guidelines for board effectiveness.
As a director he provided me with honest feedback as he did to the management and his colleagues on the board."
Mirza believes new Tata chairman N Chandrasekaran has a long way to go to solve issues in Tata Power. "It is a complex business and the chairman will have to spend more time in the company to understand the issues. He can't do magic to Tata Power. It's not that simple," he said. "Maybe he is still giving more time to TCS because frankly that is the only engine keeping the group floating," Mirza said."
Tata Power will have to encash surplus assets, shares held in Tata Sons or Tata Industries can be disposed of, and the Mundra (ultra mega power project) issue too has to be addressed, he said.
Meher Pudumjee, chairperson at Thermax, said Mirza is "very straightforward, doesn't mince his words, and speaks his mind".
As for the face-off between Tata Group and Mistry, Mirza said it may have been because of a complete breakdown of communication between Mistry and Tata. "And there was maybe external pressure to throw Mistry out. But I think leaders should be allowed to make mistakes," he said.
