Whereas Narendran has emerged because the frontrunner amongst inner candidates, Agrawal can also be within the reckoning together with his investment-banking and capital-allocation expertise, whereas Chauhan, a veteran of India’s capital markets and one of many founding executives of the Nationwide Inventory Change, may transform the darkish horse, the folks stated.
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The choice course of continues to be underway, and no ultimate determination has been taken. The Tata Sons board and the trusts that management the holding firm are anticipated to play a key function in selecting the subsequent chairman.
Sources stated Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata has flagged the shortlisted candidates to high authorities leaders and a choice is probably going as soon as the names are completely debated.
Tata Trusts and Tata Sons didn’t instantly reply to emailed requests for remark.
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Whereas a proper course of to seek out his successor has been set in movement, no shortlist has been formally confirmed. Different names which have surfaced embody Noel Tata himself, who may function interim chairman if the committee can’t conclude the method in time; Tata Sons’ Group Chief Digital Officer Aarthi Subramanian; Tata Motors CEO Shailesh Chandra; and Tata Energy CEO Praveer Sinha.
Chauhan: The darkish horse
In response to folks aware of the discussions, Chauhan might be the shock selection.
Narendran brings Tata pedigree and is taken into account the pure inner contender for the highest job, however his profession has been nearly fully inside Tata Metal, and he has comparatively much less expertise on the holding-company degree and in capital allocation.
Chauhan, alternatively, brings a markedly totally different profile.
The NSE chief has deep expertise in know-how, capital markets, monetary companies and establishment constructing. He was among the many executives who helped set up the NSE within the Nineteen Nineties and later served as MD and CEO of the Bombay Inventory Change earlier than returning to NSE as its chief in 2022.
An IIT Bombay graduate with a postgraduate administration diploma from IIM Calcutta, Chauhan has additionally labored at Reliance Industries and IDBI Financial institution. He’s presently steering a Rs 30,000-crore preliminary public providing (IPO) of NSE – the biggest in Indian historical past to this point that may worth the inventory change at about Rs 5 lakh crore and place it among the many 10 most dear Indian firms by market capitalisation.
His candidature may supply the Tata Group an external-looking selection with out bringing in a totally unknown face, folks aware of his profile stated. Chauhan understands capital markets and the technology-driven transformation of huge establishments, whereas his expertise straddles company administration, finance and know-how.
He’s additionally aware of India’s regulatory and coverage surroundings, an attribute that might be helpful because the group expands throughout extremely regulated sectors, the folks stated.
Individuals aware of Chauhan’s profession describe him as a company troubleshooter who tends to work quietly and methodically, dealing with troublesome conditions with out taking an aggressive public posture. He’s credited with steering NSE by means of a troublesome interval and making ready the change for a possible itemizing, whereas at BSE he remodeled a broker-run, broker-operated change right into a professionally managed company establishment.
His supporters level to his means to deal with strain, take groups alongside and execute over lengthy durations, in addition to his understanding of know-how, finance, telecom and the broader political financial system.
The Tata Sons chairmanship, nevertheless, is a very demanding function. Chauhan must transfer from the specialised and extremely regulated world of capital markets to overseeing a conglomerate spanning greater than 30 companies and greater than 1,000,000 staff.
Narendran: The Tata insider
Narendran has emerged because the title most constantly talked about in early discussions and stays the strongest inner working candidate.
A Tata Metal veteran since 1988, Narendran has spent greater than three many years with the group and has led the steelmaker as CEO and MD for greater than a decade.
He has steered Tata Metal by means of unstable international commodity cycles, heavy capital expenditure and the troublesome European operations which have been a problem for successive Tata Sons chairmen.
Narendran has overseen the corporate’s natural and inorganic enlargement and has held a number of outstanding business and institutional positions, together with chairman of the World Metal Affiliation and president of the Confederation of Indian Business.
He’s reported to be one of many two working CEOs — the opposite being Tata Energy’s Praveer Sinha — whom Noel Tata recurrently consults.
For Narendran, the problem can be to translate his expertise of working a big Tata working firm into managing a sprawling portfolio starting from IT and cars to aviation, shopper companies and new-age manufacturing.
Agrawal: The Finance Possibility
Agrawal represents a distinctly finance- and strategy-oriented inner choice.
He joined Tata Sons in 2017 as Group CFO underneath Chandrasekaran and at present serves as Government Director and Group CFO. His duties prolong past these of a standard CFO, together with capital allocation, investment-management selections and portfolio optimisation throughout the group.
An IIT Roorkee graduate with a postgraduate administration diploma from IIM Calcutta, Agrawal started his profession in finance and funding banking in 1995.
He went on to go funding banking at DSP Merrill Lynch, served as head of company finance for India and South Asia at Normal Chartered and held a senior technique function on the Aditya Birla Group earlier than becoming a member of Tata Sons.
Agrawal had additionally suggested main Indian teams, together with the Tatas, on transactions earlier than becoming a member of the conglomerate, giving him a mix of exterior financial-market expertise and intimate information of the Tata Group’s funding structure.
He has held board positions throughout the group, together with Tata Metal, Voltas and Tata Digital, and chairs companies together with Tata Capital, Tata Play, Tata AIA Life Insurance coverage, Tata AIG Basic Insurance coverage, Tata Energy Renewable Power, Tata 1mg and BigBasket.
His candidacy turns into significantly related as Tata Sons faces a interval of heavy capital necessities and more and more complicated selections over the place to deploy capital throughout its companies.
Why the selection issues
Chandrasekaran’s departure comes at a crucial juncture for the Tata Group, which is in the midst of considered one of its greatest funding cycles, together with the enlargement of Air India, semiconductor and electronics manufacturing tasks, electrical mobility and digital companies.
The following chairman will inherit a gaggle with roughly Rs 16.24 lakh crore in income and must navigate a number of strategic flashpoints.
TCS, the group’s largest listed firm and largest contributor to Tata Sons’ market worth, is getting into a interval of fast technological change. Air India, which Chandrasekaran additionally chairs, wants substantial funding as Tata seeks to construct a global-scale airline. Tata Digital’s loss-making operations would require sharper strategic selections.
The brand new chairman may even have to handle the long-pending query of a public itemizing of Tata Sons, alongside broader boardroom governance points and the monetary pressures confronted by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, a minority shareholder.
Air India may show one of many greatest exams. The airline is being rebuilt after its acquisition from the federal government and has ambitions to increase quickly as India’s aviation market grows. However elevating the capital wanted for plane purchases and securing confidence amongst plane lessors stay key challenges.
The succession course of additionally comes amid questions over the Tata Group’s conventional management pipeline. Narendran, notably, is just not a Tata Administrative Providers officer and has spent his Tata profession fully at Tata Metal.
Noel Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts and a non-executive director on the Tata Sons board, has emerged as a key determine within the succession course of following the loss of life of Ratan Tata in 2024. His affect is predicted to be important because the group seeks to steadiness industrial enlargement with the governance and philanthropic ethos related to the Tata title.
The ultimate selection may subsequently sign the path Tata Sons desires to absorb the subsequent decade.
Sources stated Narendran gives continuity and deep working expertise inside the Tata Group. Agrawal brings capital-markets experience and intimate information of the holding firm’s funding selections. Chauhan gives a broader mixture of know-how, finance, institutional constructing and regulatory expertise.
For now, Narendran stays the stronger inner candidate, with Agrawal offering a finance-focused various. However Chauhan’s uncommon mixture of know-how, financial-market experience and institutional management makes him the darkish horse who may upset the anticipated order within the succession race, they stated.
The choice committee is predicted to advance the method within the coming months, with the brand new chairman required to take cost after Chandrasekaran’s time period ends in February 2027.
