In an interview to The Wall Street Journal this week, Tata Group Chairman Mr Ratan Tata said that a formal process was on to look for a successor to him. Mr Tata’s tenure as Chairman ends in 2012. He said that the Tata Group had a few consultants outside India, and that there was a possibility of his successor being a non-Indian. At present, sixty-five per cent of the Group’s revenues come from overseas.

71 year old Tata has been at the helm of the company’s affairs since 1991, and hopes that whoever succeeds him continues to tread the path that the company has set for itself, with integrity. So far, only one of the Group’s Chairmen has been from outside the Tata family. This time, however, there is a possibility of the trend being broken.

One contender from within the family is 53-year-old Noel Tata, who is credited with making retail operations company, Trent, a significant player in the segment with its Westside and Star Bazaar hypermarket chains.