H M Nerurkar retires, company all set for a new strategic direction
[dropcaps round=”no”]J[/dropcaps]amshedpur: Mr. T V Narendran would take over as the new MD of Tata Steel India and South East Asia tomorrow on November 1. Today was the last day in office as the MD of Tata Steel India and South East Asia for Mr. H M Nerurkar. The change of guards at the helms marks a watershed moment for the steel major as the leadership baton passes over to a remarkably young new incumbent.
Mr. T V Narendran will be welcomed in the office with a bouquet of challenges. How skillfully he meets them would generally determine how successful he becomes as the new MD. For now, he would have to take the company out of recession impact and would have to ensure that the company completes the first phase of Orissa Project on time. He would also have to ensure that the Jamshedpur plant is able to fully utilize its new acquired production capacity of 10 mn tonnes without any major hitch.
The other ongoing projects, including the ones in Chhatisgarh, Karnataka, Iran, Bangladesh and Vietnam, are also likely to receive focused attention from him.
Industry experts have generally welcomed Mr. Narendran�s anointment as the successor to Mr. Nerurkar. He is young and seasoned. He has all the requisite qualities to be able to lead Tata Steel Ltd into future. Now his strategic qualities would be watched keenly and the experts would be keen to know what future plans he unveils before the company in the coming days.
On the other hand, Mr. H M Nerurkar, who today retired as the MD of Tata Steel Ltd, India and South East India, would have the satisfaction of having led the company reasonably well at a critical juncture.
He had taken over the baton from B Muthuraman, under whose stewardship the company had taken a quantum leap. Mr Nerurkar has led the company at a crucial juncture.
At a time when the entire economy was going through an unprecedented slowdown and the company was trying to cope with its expansion project in Jamshedpur as well as trying to kickstart its Orissa greenfield project.
He should be a satisfied man because he led the company rather well during such an important juncture. He has also expressed happiness at the board�s choice of Mr. T V Narendran as his successor. He has been on record saying that Mr T V Narendran was the right candidate for leading the company at this moment and has lauded his leadership qualities.
Earlier, Tata Steel Board had surprised the analysts by announcing the name of Mr. T V Narendran as the next MD of Tata Steel India and South East Asia. There were other contenders in the fray too. But the board finally selected Mr. Narendran.
Mr. Narendran, 48, is the youngest MD in Tata Steel history. With age on his side, he would be raring to meet the challenges that the steel major is presently staring at. He would also be keen on giving the company a new strategic direction that would secure its future for the next several decades.
A new leadership structure has also been put in place in the company. Kaushik Chatterjee, Group Chief Financial Officer has been anointed as the group executive director (finance and corporate) and he would be reporting directly to Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry, with Karl Koehler, managing director and chief executive, Tata Steel Europe and Mr. Narendran.