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Mumbai:
Cyrus Mistry, who succeeds Ratan Tata Friday as chairman of the
the $100-billion Tata Group, is low-profile and meticulous to
details -- qualities which are in the perfect mould for India's
largest industrial house, those in the know maintain.
A high-powered panel, which included influential British
businessman Lord Sushanta Kumar Bhattacharyya who runs Warwick
Manufacturing, lawyer Shirin Bharucha, and N.A. Soonawala,
vice-chairman of Tata Sons, zeroed in on Mistry after an 18-month
search.
On the selection of his successor, Ratan Tata had said that he was
impressed by the "quality and calibre" of Mistry's participation
on the Tata Sons board and praised his "astute observations and
humility".
A commerce graduate from the University of Mumbai, Mistry, 44, has
an engineering degree from the Imperial College, London, and a
masters in management from the London School of Business.
He brings to his job over two decades of varied experience of
managing businesses, ranging from construction to entertainment,
to power and finance.
"Be your own man, you should take your own call and you should
decide what you want to," Ratan Tata said in a recent interview
when asked what he would like to advise if asked by Mistry.
"Just be driven by the fact that every act you do and every move
you make has to stand the test of public scrutiny," Ratan Tata
advised.
Mistry is the younger son of construction tycoon Pallonji
Shapoorji Mistry, who holds an 18.5 percent stake in Tata Sons,
the single largest shareholder. Mistry joined the board of
Shapoorji Pallonji & Co as director in 1991. Three years later, he
was appointed managing director of the group.
Under his stewardship, Shapoorji Pallonji's construction business
grew from a turnover of $20 million to almost $1.5 billion.
Mistry also oversaw the diversification of the company from
construction to design and building of complex projects in the
marine, oil and gas and rail sectors. The group employs over
23,000 people and has a strong presence in India, the Middle East
and Africa.
Besides serving as a director at Tata Sons, Mistry also served
Tata Elxsi and Tata Power. He is also a senior vice president of
production, DQ Entertainment Plc.
He has served as a non-executive director of Forbes Gokak Ltd and
was associated with Convergence Media Pvt Ltd as senior vice
president, operations and planning, and UTV Toons India.
Mistry is also a trustee of the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai
and is on the board of the Imperial College India Foundation.
Besides, he is on the Board of Governors of the National Institute
of Construction Management and Research and is a fellow of the
Institute of Civil Engineers.
Known to like golf, he stays in a sea-facing house, also inhabited
by his father and elder brother, in Mumbai's upscale Malabar Hill.
Born into Mumbai's famous Parsi community, he is married to Rohika,
daughter of legal luminary Iqbal Chagla.
He has an elder brother, Shapoor Mistry, while one of his sisters
is married to Noel Tata, Ratan Tata's half-brother.
"He loves his underground profile," said Supriya Sule, member of
parliament, daughter of union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar
and a close family friend, describing Mistry. "He has also always
been very humble."
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