Tata Sons director urges Tata Int'l to focus on profit

Tata International has been in losses for the past two fiscal years

- Varun Sood & Satish John

An independent director at Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, has urged Tata International Ltd (TIL) to adopt a more focused business strategy and deliver consistent profitability, according to two executives aware of the matter.

The director, Harish Manwani, a veteran of global fast-moving consumer goods giant Unilever, shared his views with Noel Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts—the promoter of Tata Sons—during a board meeting of the latter last week. The meeting was also attended by Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran and other board members.

At the meeting, Manwani pressed Noel Tata to clarify the strategic purpose of Tata International, highlighting the need for clearly defined objectives, according to the executives cited above who spoke on the condition of anonymity.