Tata Sons / Will Chandrasekaran fulfill Ratan Tata's dream, he has this connection with Bengal

Tata Sons: Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran recently took two important steps, which have fueled discussions about the future plans of the Tata Group. On Tuesday, he held a confidential meeting with the members of Tata Trusts at Bombay House in Mumbai, and the very next day on Wednesday, he reached Kolkata and met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. This meeting has raised a new hope in the industry that the Tata Group can once again expand its business in Bengal.

History of Singur dispute

In 2006, Tata Motors planned to set up a plant for its ambitious Nano car in Singur, West Bengal. However, due to the massive protest led by the then opposition leader Mamata Banerjee, the Tata Group had to cancel this project. After this, the plant was shifted to Sanand in Gujarat. Since this incident, there was no significant communication between the Tata Group and Mamata Banerjee. Chandrasekaran's recent meeting is being considered an important step towards bridging this gap.

Historic meeting at Bombay House

On Tuesday, Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran held an unusual and historic meeting with the board of Tata Trusts at Bombay House in Mumbai. The meeting was attended by prominent members like Nohal Tata, Mehli Mistry, Venu Srinivasan, Pramit Jhaveri, Darius Khambatta, Vijay Singh and Jahangir C. Jahangir. This meeting is being considered a departure from tradition, because during Ratan Tata's tenure, the chairman of Tata Sons never directly briefed the trusts board.

Usually, the nominees of Tata Trusts used to convey the information received from the board of Tata Sons to the trusts. Tata Trusts has a 66% stake in Tata Sons, making it the controlling stake of the group. In this meeting, Chandrasekaran explained in detail the performance of the group, the progress made in major projects such as semiconductors, electric mobility, consumer app ecosystem, and Air India. Apart from this, the steps taken after the recent Air India accident in Ahmedabad, such as compliance with rules and the process of providing relief to passengers, were also discussed.

Transparency and future plans

Tata Trusts was established by the founding family of the group and is known for its philanthropic work. Nohal Tata, who is also the chairman of Tata Trusts, along with other nominees like Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh, are also on the board of Tata Sons. The meeting also discussed the investments of more than Rs 1.84 lakh crore made by the group in the last few years. This investment has been made mainly in sectors like semiconductors, electric vehicles, digital consumer ecosystem, and Air India.

This meeting is being considered a big step towards transparency, as it gave Tata Trusts a direct insight into the strategies and progress of the group.

New beginning in Kolkata?

Chandrasekaran's meeting with Mamata Banerjee has given rise to many possibilities in the industry. Experts believe that Tata Group may explore new investment possibilities in Bengal. After the Singur controversy, Tata Group did not make any major investment in Bengal, but this meeting has indicated that the group is now looking for new opportunities, forgetting the old bitterness.

In this meeting with Mamata Banerjee, industrial development, employment generation, and possible projects of Tata Group in Bengal were probably discussed. Although the details of this meeting have not been made public, it is clear that Tata Group is seriously considering increasing its presence in Bengal.