New Delhi: The leadership battle at Tata Sons seemed headed towards protracted litigation barely 24 hours after the board of the tea-to-telecom conglomerate removed Cyrus Mistry as its chairman with at least one major business leader weighing in on the debate saying that “it is neither good for Tata’s reputation nor Indian businesses.”
The Tatas have already filed caveat petitions in the Supreme Court, Bombay High Court and the law tribunal to prevent Mistry from getting an ex-parte order against his removal.
“I am saddened by what has happened and I have known Cyrus Mistry and I have found him to be a person of integrity and character,” said Adi Godrej.
“The (group) companies must focus on their market position vis-à-vis competition, and not compare themselves to their own past. The drive must be on leadership rather than to follow,” Ratan Tata told managing directors and senior leaders of Tata group companies, according to the statement.
In an interview with an in-house magazine, Mistry had recently stated that the group “should not be afraid of taking tough decisions for the right reasons, with compassion” amid “challenging situations” confronted by some of the group's businesses that would require hard and bolder decisions on pruning portfolio.
During Ratan Tata’s tenure, the group’s revenues grew manifold, totalling around Rs 475,721 crore in 2011-12 from a turnover of a mere Rs 10,000 crore in 1991.
The Tata group comprises over a 100 independent operating companies, whose revenue in 2015-16 was $103 billion. Of these companies 29 are listed with a combined market capitalization of about $116 billion.
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