"In order to meet the challenges in a highly competitive hotel and hospitality industry,” the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) inducted Mehernosh S. Kapadia on to the board as executive director — corporate affairs. The appointment is for a period of five years commencing August 10, 2011, the company announced in a notification. Ratan Tata chairs the IHCL board, with Keki Dadiseth, Shapoor Mistry, Nadir Godrej and Anu Aga among the others on the board.
Kapadia has been with the Tatas for over 30 years and has held several responsible positions. He has been the chairman of Taj Air Limited, the air charter company, and the managing director of Taj SATS (Singapore Airport Terminal Services), market leader in the airline flight catering space in India. Kapadia is also on the board of Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited and Ewart Investments Limited. Tata Realty’s website also lists Phillie Karkaria as executive director and Jimmy Bilimoria as director on the board. Rusty J. Treasuryvala is part of Tata Realty’s senior management team.
Glittering Nano: celebrating 5,000 years of Indian jewelry making
At Tata Global Beverages (TGB, formerly Tata Tea), managing director Percy Siganporia was appointed acting CEO (chief executive officer) following the resignation of CEO Peter Unsworth. F. K. Kavarana and J. S. Billimoria (formerly of the Ciba Group) are also on the TGB board.
The salt-to-software Group is aiming to play a larger role in the aviation business. "Ratan Tata is working out deals with international players for business jets, helicopters as well as for aircraft management and maintenance services,” reports The Times of India, September 1, 2011, adding that talks are on with Florida-based Avantair and Hong Kong’s Metrojet. With foreign companies like US-based Lockheed Martin and French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation looking to bag large defense contracts in India over the next few years, Tata Industries (the entity that identifies new business opportunities) is turning its focus on contractual project management for aerospace and defense firms, taking the Tata brand into new territory, as per The Financial Express of July 11. The Group has also entered into logistics through DIESL (Drive India Enterprise Solutions Limited). This year it forayed into the school education segment with Tata Interactive Systems launching Classedge, an integrated e-learning solution.
Tata Global Beverages’ Percy Siganporia (left) and Indian Hotels’ Mehernosh S. Kapadia
The Tata Group now stands at No. 41 in the revised list released in September of the Top 50 Most Valuable Global Brands, with a brand value of $15.75 billion. The top three spots went to Google ($ 48.28 billion), Apple ($ 39.3 billion) and Microsoft ($ 39.01 billion).
A fully functional Nano car, glittering with 80 kg of 22-carat solid gold, 15 kg silver and encrusted with diamonds, rubies and other gemstones, was unveiled by Group chairman Ratan Tata in Bombay on September 19! Reportedly worth Rs 22 crore, the Goldplus Nano is a unique branding exercise by Goldplus Jewellery, part of Titan Industries. It will travel to all the Goldplus showrooms at 29 locations across the country!