Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran's decision to step away from the race for another term may have removed one uncertainty hanging over Bombay House, but it has certainly introduced another -- the succession. Who will the successor be, and what all is he set to inherit will now be the questions looming over the conglomerate.
Tata Group today is not a stable conglomerate awaiting a change of guard but a group in the middle of multiple transformations, each requiring capital, management attention and patience. The next Tata Sons chairman will take charge at a time when Air India remains deep in the red, TCS is confronting the biggest technological shift in its history, Jaguar Land Rover is navigating fresh turbulence, and the group's semiconductor and advanced manufacturing ambitions are still years away from proving themselves. Overlaying all this are unresolved questions around Tata Sons' future structure, its relationship with Tata Trusts and the growing scrutiny of how capital is being allocated across the empire.
