Cyrus Mistry might have easily made his way to the most coveted position of Tata Group Chairman, but he wont find it easy to fill the gap created by the absense of Ratan Tata. More importantly he is going to occupy the Chair which has been predominantly held only by a member of Tata Family. From Tomorrow, he would find himself in the shoes which were once wore by the legendary Jamshedji  Tata and the flamboyant JRD Tata.
He is the First Non-Tata Chairman ever since its expansion and the first Non-Indian to be so. His prime Task would be to maintain the legacy of Tatas and to take it forward with the pace Ratan Tata has made it.
Tata Group’s market capitalisation, which has some 30-odd listed companies, is now nearly Rs.4.54 trillion ($825 billion), 33 times more than in 1991 when Tata took over the top job. During this period, the group’s aggregate sales have increased 43 times, while net profit has grown 51 times.
Tata Group’s global expansion started in 2000 with the acquisition of Britain’s largest tea firm, Tetley, by Tata Tea, now called Tata Global Beverages.
Since then Tata Group has made several big-ticket global acquisitions, including the purchase of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus Group. Tata Steel also acquired Europe’s second largest steel maker Corus in 2007 for $12 billion. The company is now called Tata Steel Europe.
Another big acquisition was of iconic British auto makers Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata Motors.
The Group under Tata’s leadership also made serveral other acquisitions in the global and domestic markets.
These include acquisition of controlling stake in government-run Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) by Tata Sons, purchase of heavy vehicles unit of Daewoo Motors in South Korea by Tata Motors, acquisition of Singapore’s NatSteel by Tata Steel and purchase of New York-based The Pierre hotel by Indian Hotels Company.
According to those following the Tata Sons story, it was to Ratan Tata’s credit that the group entered new businesses like telecommunications, finance and retail and increased focus on information technology and renewable energy.
At the same time the Group, they add, he led the exit from sectors like cement, textiles and cosmetics, while embarking on new areas. Today, as a result of that, the Tata empire has in its fold the most profitable company in the information technology busines — Tata Consultancy Services.
Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej said Ratan Tata leveraged the strength of TCS and Tata Motors while getting out of businesses such as Tata Oil mills and Lakme which were not a strategic fit.