Tata Steel Is Making All The Right Moves

Under the stewardship of T.V. Narendran, Tata Steel is making all the right moves in the domestic steel market

- Ashish Rukhaiyar & Krishna Gopalan

JUST SAY ‘STEEL’, and the affable T.V. Narendran’s eyes light up instantaneously. And if the conversation veers around to Tata Steel, he gets seriously involved. This, after spending more than three decades with the same company. Clearly, the enthusiasm has not dropped even a puny bit for the CEO & Managing Director of Tata Steel. Seated in the second floor of Bombay House, a heritage structure and headquarters of the diversified Tata group, Narendran, 57, is formally dressed, yet informal in approach. The large conference room is quite typical of the group—austere, understated, yet graceful. He sits behind a long table, from a different era, which blends well with a set of modern pushback chairs. At one end of the room are products from several Tata brands, among which are Tetley tea and Himalaya water.

This is where many a strategic discussion takes place, often culminating in critical decisions. It could be for a big-ticket acquisition or for looking at disruptive technologies or just ways to relook at the existing cost structure. Narendran himself has a frenetic work schedule. Travel takes him to Jamshedpur (where its first and biggest steel plant is located), Mumbai, and to Europe as well, as he jostles for space to think through a multi-pronged global strategy that is increasingly beginning to hinge on India. It is a life across time zones, but Narendran manages some time to indulge in reading and playing the drums. The latter stems from an interest in percussion and it was well into his corporate career when he decided to learn the instrument. Today, he is part of a small band in Jamshedpur and smiles easily when he speaks of it.