Inside N. Chandrasekaran’s plans for Tata Group in 2019

Tata Group, India’s biggest conglomerate, will leverage its strengths to stay relevant, Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran said. He wants Tata companies to focus on providing customers with the best products and services, while managing costs. “This means making strategic decisions factoring in both the ups and downs inherent in business cycles. We should be prudent in good times, while creating an operating and capital structure that will see us through difficult periods.”

Inside N. Chandrasekaran’s plans for Tata Group in 2019

The chairman said he would continue to simplify Tata Group’s structure. “In total, we committed over ₹70,000 crore to deleverage and restructure Tata companies, consolidate cross-holdings, acquire strategic assets and infuse much-needed capital for future growth.”

In some areas, such as aerospace and defence, the group is consolidating its businesses into a single entity. In other areas, companies are reducing subsidiaries or exiting non-core businesses.

T.V. Narendran, Tata Steel CEO

Tata Steel CEO T.V. Narendran.

Trends: Trade actions, the Chinese economy, rising US interest rates, Brexit impact.

Focus: Creation of the joint venture in Europe, integration of newly acquired facilities in India, ensuring the Kalinganagar expansion proceeds as planned, cutting debt, reviewing portfolio of subsidiary rms, improving return on capital.

Guenter Butschek, Tata Motors CEO and MD

Tata Motors CEO Guenter Butschek. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint

Trends: Electric and shared vehicles. Price positioning will be a challenge as BS VI emission norms come into effect.

Focus: Being prepared for market volatility and creating more opportunities. Two new vehicle architectures, OMEGA and Aquila, will make their market debut.

Puneet Chhatwal, Indian Hotels CEO

Indian Hotels CEO Puneet Chhatwal.

Trends: A rise in the number of business travellers and individual travellers. Demand for luxurious travel will grow further.

Focus: Increasing the market share, consolidating the average daily rate, reducing debt and continuing to target an 8% Ebitda margin.

Rajesh Gopinathan, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO

TCS CEO Rajesh Gopinathan. Photo: Bloomberg

Trends: Higher AI adoption, cyber security, data privacy, increase in deployment of IoT tech.

Focus: Making TCS enterprise-agile by 2020, continuing with digital reskilling, building local talent through STEM initiatives such as GoIT.

R. Mukundan, Tata Chemicals CEO

Tata Chemicals CEO R. Mukundan.

Trends: Innovation, sustainability and digitization.

Focus: Investing another 2,000 crore for the expansion of the Mithapur plant, increasing the capacity of the Ankleshwar plant, some acquisitions in the consumer products business.

Bhaskar Bhat, Titan CEO

Titan CEO Bhaskar Bhat. Photo: Mint

Trends: More hyperlocal delivery firms. Data analytics will redefine retail, aggregators and multi-brand outlets will grow.

Focus: Raising market share, introducing more tech-powered products in the watches and accessories division, expanding Tanishq deeper into smaller towns.

Praveer Sinha, Tata Power CEO

Tata Power CEO Praveer Sinha.

Trends: Decentralization towards renewable sources. Integration of intermittent power into the grid will be a challenge.

Focus: Raising the renewable portfolio share in total generating capacity to over 40% by 2025, acquisitions of stressed assets for conventional thermal generation, selling non-core assets.

Rajiv Sabharwal, Tata Capital CEO

Tata Capital CEO Rajiv Sabharwal. Photo: HT

Trends: NBFCs will continue healthy growth through innovation in products and services. Advanced analytics will oer deeper understanding of customers and their creditworthiness.

Focus: Building a diverse liability base, leveraging tech to cut costs.

.Ajoy Misra, Tata Global Beverages CEO

Tata Global CEO Ajoy Misra. Photo: Mint

Trends: With health and wellness set to become a more premium experience, tea, coffee and water will leverage this opportunity. Online retail will account for a much larger share.

Focus: Leveraging white space opportunities by catering to regional palates. The global focus will be on green, speciality, fruit and herbal teas.

source: livemint