Tata Sons, the promoter firm of Tata group of companies, has appointed Mukund Govind Rajan as brand custodian and group spokesperson. Most recently, he was Head of Private Equity Advisory at Tata Capital Ltd and Managing Partner of the advisory team of the Tata Opportunities Fund.
The top level change comes after Ratan Tata retired as chairman of Tata Group December last year and Cyrus Mistry took over the reins from him.
Since taking over, Mistry has elevated and appointed young executives. For instance, according to reports, Ajit Krishnakumar, an investment banker at Rothschild India and son of Tata group veteran R.K. Krishnakumar, is being appointed to head a mergers and acquisitions team.
There are other top level appointments in its group of companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Communications and Tata Teleservices in the last two years.
In his new role, Rajan, who has been with Tata group for over 18 years, will have the responsibility to oversee and manage all corporate communications and brand related activities for the group in India and overseas.
Additionally, he will serve as the Chief Ethics Officer of the group and also oversee all Tata group Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities as Chairman of the Tata Council for Community Initiatives (TCCI). His will report directly to the Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry.
Rajan started his career as a Tata Administrative Service (TAS) Officer and has discharged several senior executive responsibilities across the group. Rajan has also previously served as Managing Director of Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd., and as Vice President – Chairman’s Office, at Tata Sons.
The IIT Delhi graduate was honoured as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum In 2007. He was also part of the inaugural class of the CII-Aspen Institute India Leadership Initiative. He received a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University, where he completed a Master’s and Doctorate in International Relations.
Rejig at Tata Capital
Tata Capital Ltd, the non-banking financial services arm of the Tata group, would elevate Padmanabh (Paddy) Sinha from Chief Investment Officer to the position of Managing Partner and Bobby Pauly (Principal, Tata Opportunities Fund) to the role of Partner of the advisory team of the Tata Opportunities Fund.
The move comes in the wake of Mukund Rajan’s appointment at Tata Sons.
Paddy Sinha, Rajesh Singhal ( partner, Tata Opportunities Fund) and Bobby Pauly will now constitute the leadership at the Indian advisory team of the Singapore-based Tata Opportunities Fund. Mukund Rajan will continue to be associated with the Tata Opportunities Fund and will join Praveen Kadle, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Capital Ltd, as a member on the Advisory Board of the Tata Opportunities Fund in Singapore.
Kadle, CEO and Managing Director, Tata Capital said, “I am happy for Mukund and wish him the very best in his new role. I am confident that Paddy, Rajesh and Bobby will be able to steer the advisory mandate for the Tata Opportunities Fund successfully and help the investment team deliver superior returns to investors.”
The Tata Opportunities Fund is a Singapore based sector agnostic Private Equity fund sponsored by Tata Capital in 2011 and currently manages around $600 million from marquee global investors. The Tata Opportunities Fund is the largest fund advised by Tata Capital.
(Edited by Prem Udayabahnu)
