This Chandra shines on his own
(appeared in Lokmat Times, Jan 29, 2022)
Chandra, the moon, in Indian languages, doesn’t have any light
of his own. The pleasant moonlight enjoyed by us all is reflected glory say
scientists. But N Chandrasekharan, (59), the young and dynamic Chairman of Tata
Sons shines on his own hard work, diligence and leadership qualities in Indian
IT and Indian industry as a whole.
Chandrasekharan or Chandra, as he is fondly called by his
colleagues and friends has been honoured with Padma Bhushan by the Government
of India on this Republic Day, Jan 26, 2022 for his contributions to Indian
Industry.
He has had a meteoric rise in the Tata Group, which he
joined as a trainee in 1987 in the IT pioneer TCS (Tata Consultancy Services).
He went on to become its CEO in 2009 when it had nearly a lakh bright engineers.
In Feb 2017 he was chosen by Ratan Tata to head the more than 150 year old Tata
Group comprising a hundred companies making software to steel and tea to
trucks. It is a dream run by any standards for any young aspiring Indian.
Chandra was born in Mohanur, a village in Tamil Nadu in
1963. He studied in a Tamil medium school and later got a degree in Applied
Sciences from Coimbatore Institute of Technology. He then studied computer
programming and obtained Master of Computer Applications in the Regional
Engineering College, Trichy (now NIT Trichy). He joined as an intern in TCS in
1987 and later became a fulltime employee.
Within a couple of years Chandra attracted the attention of
senior management with his hardwork and never say die attitude in completing
his assignments in time to the satisfaction of his seniors and the clients of
TCS. In the 90’s Chandra was sent on particularly problematic and difficult
missions by S Ramadorai and F C Kohli who were then leading TCS. And Chandra
proved himself.
S Ramadorai who took over as CEO of TCS in 1996 told the me
that Chandra was “Mr Reliable” and successfully completed complex tasks and
client projects which many of his peers would have hesitated to tread. Thus he
became first unofficially and later officially as Chief Operating Officer, the
number two in the company.
TCS became the first Indian IT company to achieve a $1
billion in sales in 2003. Tata Sons of which TCS was till then a division,
since its founding in 1968 by JRD Tata and Nani Palkhivala, decided to convert
TCS into a company and then take it public through an IPO. The IPO was a great
success and the company hasn’t looked back since then.
Today TCS has become the jewel in the crown of Tata Group
with nearly 14 lakh crore rupees in market value and last years’ profits of
nearly Rs 31000 cores. Chandrasekharan has played a stellar role in its rise as
CEO and later Chairman in the last 13 years.
TCS which is vying to be the number one IT services company
in the world, and is very close to getting there, has also played a major role
in creating a modern digital India by building a large portion of India’s
digital infrastructure; its stock exchanges, its dematerialized share
depositories, digital banking, Passport Seva Kendras, online reservation of
Indian Railway tickets, tsunami warning systems etc etc; in short it has done
valuable service in Nation Building while earning valuable dollars through
exports.
In 1944-45 J R D Tata and G D Birla were the lead authors
of Bombay Plan. In the words of former PM, Dr Manmohan Singh “it (Tata-Birla
Plan) defined the framework for India's transition from agrarian feudalism to
industrial capitalism. In many ways, it encapsulated what all subsequent Plans
have tried to achieve.”
India in the 21st century needs a new plan and
vision for its growth and prosperity and all round welfare. Chandra has tried
to contribute to preparing this vision through a thought provoking book,
“Bridgital Nation” ( 2019).
Since being appointed as the Chairman of India’s largest
industrial Group -- the Tatas, five years ago, Chandra has been trying to
reshape the group to face the challenges of the present day world and also
seize on new opportunities.
Tata’s diversification into defence production, takeover of
India’s flag ship airline Air India, entry into the brave new world of
semiconductors, electric vehicles etc while trying to reduce debt in older Tata
Steel, Tata Motors and make the group more nimble all have his idelible
imprint.
The award of Padmabhushan to him preceded by those awarded
to Ratan Tata, F C Kohli and S Ramadorai show the role this storied group has
played in modern India.
Shivanand Kanavi
(The author is Adjunct Faculty at National
Institute of Advanced Studies; former VP at TCS and a business journalist and
author of award winning book “Sand to Silicon”)
