Tata Group is now ‘financially stronger’: CEO

New Delhi: Digital, new energy, supply chain resilience and health will be the themes of the over $ 100-billion Tata group’s strategy going forward, according to its Chairman N Chandrasekaran even as he asserted that all ambitions are contingent on learning to live with the coronavirus.

In his New Year address to the over eight lakh employees of salt-to-software conglomerate, Chandrasekaran said businesses and society must adapt to the virus by preparing as “best we can for new outbreaks and variants. We are seeing this now with the spread of Omicron”.

Reflecting on the year gone by, he said the group is becoming “simpler and financially stronger than we have been in a long time”. “We have also made good progress addressing our carbon footprint and positioning our companies to benefit from revolutionary new technologies. Our most important milestone this year culminated in our bid to win Air India. It is indeed a historic moment,” Chandrasekaran said.

On the way forward, he said, “Our strategy, looking ahead, has four themes: digital, new energy, supply chain resilience, and health. Our companies are already adapting to these changes, and we are witnessing a stronger performance.” The group’s new pilots and businesses, from 5G to TataNeu (digital platform) and Tata Electronics, are poised to benefit from these four themes, he said.

Chandrasekaran said that as a business, the group can play its part in the evolution of India, with its ambitions to become a USD3 trillion economy by 2024. “We must keep pushing ourselves to be simpler, more sustainable, and more technologically advanced. If we do, we can push our company, and our country, forward.”

However, he said “all ambitions are contingent on a more immediate concern: learning to live with coronavirus. Businesses and society must adapt to it by preparing as best we can for new outbreaks. We are seeing this now with the spread of Omicron.”

Asserting that “India’s brilliant vaccine program has built a vast wall of protection”, he said infections, so far, seem to be mild.

“But, we must be careful. This isn’t time to let our guard down,” he said, encouraging the group employees to follow the latest health protocols and take booster shots when they become available, not just for individuals, but families and communities.

Chandrasekaran reminded the employees that a year ago, when it was hoped that the worst of the pandemic was seen, but the second wave sadly proved much more difficult.

Expressing sympathies to those who have lost loved ones to the pandemic, he said communities, families, and individuals have suffered a great deal.

However, Chandrasekaran expressed pride at how the Tata Group responded to the challenges and “showed the courage and selflessness in the Tata spirit”. -(PTI)