Mumbai: SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya on Tuesday expressed confidence that the new Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran will "do really, really well" in his job. "I am sure that Chandra is going to do really, really well.
We wish him the very best," Bhattacharya said, and expressed hope that he will take on the many challenges the group faces head-on. "Tata group has lots of challenges. Being in very diverse businesses, at different cycles, they are very much in the economy, which itself is also facing lots of problems, and so to that extent, this is something that Chandra is going to address across the board," she said.
Talking to reporters after the first board meeting chaired by Chandra, Amit Chandra, who is on the board of Tata Sons and a trustee with Tata Trusts which owns over 66 per cent of the holding company, said, "It's a great day for corporate India as someone from such a humble background has risen to head the country's largest conglomerate.
"This shows that we have moved to a place where through sheer hard work, people can rise to the top not necessarily from a great family but with sheer effort and capabilities," said Amit Chandra who played a key role in the search panel.
"Anyone who knows Chandra talks about his value system and humility and beyond all that he has been at TCS and Tatas for nearly three decades that makes him an insider who understands how the Tatas work," he said.
Describing the new chairman as a "value creator" for the group, having created billions of dollars of profits for TCS, Chandra said Chandrasekaran is "very confident and excited to take all the challenges head-on". "He comes extremely well prepared to take the challenges," Amit Chandra said.
On Ratan Tata's last day on the board, Amit Chandra said it was an emotional moment for all to acknowledge Tata's contributions over the past many decades to the board. Ishaat Hussain, another board member and a group veteran of several decades, said, "I am confident that Chandra will just keep doing what he did at TCS....I wish him all the best."
Ajay Piramal who recently joined the Tata Sons board wished him all the best to head the biggest conglomerate in the country.
