Ratan Tata Will Say Tata To TATA in Dec. 012

Noel Naval Tata's role in the over $71 billion crore salt-to-software conglomerate clearly got bigger last week with his appointment as managing director of Tata International. In the meanwhile, the board of Tata Sons announced on Wednesday it had formed a selection committee, comprising five members, including an external member, to decide on a suitable successor to groups chairman Ratan N Tata, who retires in December 2012 when he turns 75.

"The committee has commenced its work," a press release said, adding that "the selection process for a prospective candidate would consider suitable persons from within the Tata Companies, other professionals in India as well as persons overseas with global experience."

The committee will comprise two directors from the Sir Dorab Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, two members from the Tata Sons board and one external, non-Tata Group person. The selection committee names being speculated about are NA Soonawala, Keki Dadiseth, Jamshed J Irani, R Gopalakrishnan, AN Singh and the outsider and Ratan Tata's close confidante and Bombay Dyeing Group chairman Nusli Wadia. Ratan Tata will not be a member of the search committee.

Ratan Tata had said in the past that his successor could be an expatriate. "It would be certainly easier if that candidate were an Indian national. But now that 65% of our revenues come from overseas, it could also be an expatriate sitting in that position with justification now that we are a company that has global reach and global presence," Ratan Tata had told The Wall Street Journal last November to a question on how he was conducting the search for his successor

"The successor, I would hope, would have integrity and our value systems in the forefront and hopefully would carry on the path that we have tried to set for the company's growth," Mr Tata had observed. The chairman had indicated to a magazine earlier in 2009 that his successor would need up to 18 months as handover time.

While names, including Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo and Vikram Pandit of Citigroup have been talked about, Noel Tata has been considered a frontrunner for the group chairman's position. Indeed, the stint at Tata International is expected to give the 53 year-old Noel Tata exposure to the group's overseas businesses; he has spent about a decade at Trent, building the retail business. Tata International, a leather and engineering and trading company has a presence across ten African nations. A graduate of Sussex University, Noel Tata is the son-in-law of Pallonji Mistry, the largest single shareholder in Tata Sons with a stake of 18%.

In addition to Mistry, the board of Tata Sons, chaired by Ratan Tata comprises among others FK Kavarana, Jamshed J Irani, Ishaat Hussain, R Gopalakrishnan, RK Krishna Kumar and Arunkumar Gandhi.