Ratan Tata to retire tomorrow, Cyrus Mistry to succeed him

Ratan Tata, who led the transformation of the Tata group from a conventional corporate house into a USD 100 billion global conglomerate withhigh-profile acquisitions abroad, will retire tomorrow ending a 50-year run in one of India's oldest business empires.

Marking a generational change, Tata, who turns 75 tomorrow, will hand over the reins of the group to 44-year-old Cyrus Mistry, who was chosen his successor last year and formally appointed Chairman earlier this month.

Ratan TataSpeak: A survey

SURVEY: Ratan Tata - Legacy

Tata is hanging up his boots after steering the group for 21 years as its Chairman, when he succeeded the legendary JRD Tata. While JRD made Tata the Chairman out of the blue in 1971, Mistry of the Shapoorji Pallonji group and whose family owns 18 per cent stake in Tata Sons, was chosen by a five-member selection committee.

During Tata's tenure, the group's revenues grew manifold, totalling USD 100.09 billion (around Rs 475,721 crore) in 2011-12 from a turnover of a mere Rs 10,000 crore in 1971.

His vision to transform the group into a multinational giant resulted in high profile acquisitions such as Tata Tea's takeover of UK brand Tetley for USD 450 million in 2000

But Ratan Tata set new standards for the Indian corporates in the current era of globalisation when Tata Steel acquired Anglo-Dutch rival Corus for 6.2 billion pounds beating CSN of Brazil in 2007.

A year later, the group's automotive firm Tata Motors lapped up British luxury vehicle maker Jaguar Land Rover for USD 2.3 billion from Ford Motor Co.

Even as Tata was concentrating on activities abroad, he came up with the idea of producing the world's cheapest car when he conceived the 'Rs one lakh' small car Nano. The Tata group underwent moments of high tension in executing the Nano project when it got into problems on acquisition of land in Singur in West Bengal.

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