Governance

Mr. N. Chandrasekaran was appointed as a Director and Chairman on the Board of Tata Chemicals with effect from November 24, 2020.

Mr. N. Chandrasekaran serves as Chairman of the board of Tata Sons, the holding company and promoter of more than 100 Tata operating companies with aggregate annual revenues of more than US $150 billion. He joined the board of Tata Sons in October 2016 and was appointed Chairman in January 2017.  

His appointment as Chairman of Tata Sons followed a 30-year career at Tata Consulting Services. Mr Chandrasekaran rose through the ranks to become the CEO and under his leadership, TCS consolidated its position as the largest private sector employer in India and India’s most valuable company.

Since he has taken over as Chairman of Tata Sons, Mr Chandrasekaran has been driving transformation of the group towards digital, sustainability and supply chain resilience. The group has forayed into new businesses including electronics manufacturing, semiconductor, EV battery manufacturing, consumer internet platform, and mobile technology for 5G. The Tata Group has expanded its aviation presence with the acquisition of Air India and is building a large global airline.

Mr Chandrasekaran was conferred with the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards in India, in the field of trade and industry in 2022. The French Government conferred him with Légion d’Honneur, the highest civilian award in France for his outstanding business successes and decisive contribution to strengthening Indo-French economic ties. President Eisenhower Global Award for Leadership by the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) was conferred to him in 2022.

Mr Chandrasekaran is the Co-Chair of the US India CEO Forum. He is on the Board of Governors of New York Academy of Sciences, elected as an international member of the United States National Academy of Engineering (NAE), a member of the UTokyo Global Navigation Board, the Mitsubishi's International Advisory Committee and International Advisory Council of Singapore’s Economic Development Board. He is the Chairman of Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow as well as the President of the Court at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Mr Chandrasekaran is also a member of the Stanford Doer School for Sustainability Advisory Council and the MIT CEO Advisory Board.

Mr. N. Chandrasekaran is also the author of Bridgital Nation, a groundbreaking book on harnessing technological disruptions to bring Indians closer to their dreams.

Mr. S. Padmanabhan was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Tata Chemicals Limited in December 2016.

His career in Tata group companies began with Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) in 1982 and spans over 40 years. During his 26-year stint in TCS, he held roles such as Executive Director of Human Resources, Head of Application Development and Maintenance, Head of Airlines Practice, Country Manager, TCS Switzerland and position of Executive Director.

Mr. S. Padmanabhan was also the Executive Director-Operations of Tata Power from 6th February 2008 to 30th June 2014, and was responsible for the profitable and sustainable operations of all thermal and hydro generation plants across India and transmission and distribution systems in Mumbai. He was also on the boards of the operating subsidiaries of the company.

Mr. S. Padmanabhan was also the Group Chief Human Resources Officer at Tata Sons. He was also heading the Tata Business Excellence Group (TBExG) and the Tata Group Ethics function. Heading the TBExG, he was responsible for enabling the Business Excellence journey of Tata companies globally. This role was integral to Group initiatives in enhancing the performance of Tata companies through diagnostics, benchmarking and sharing of best practices. Under his leadership, TBExG helped companies leverage data and process excellence.

He has a distinguished academic record in the technical and management domain from reputable institutions. He is a Glaxo Marketing Scholar Medallist, a Distinguished Alumnus from IIM Bangalore, and a Gold Medallist and a Distinguished Alumnus from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore. He has completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He is also a life member of CSI.

Currently, Mr. S. Padmanabhan is a Director on the Board of Tata Chemicals Limited, Tata SIA Airlines Limited and The Associated Building Company Limited.

Ms. Padmini Khare Kaicker joined the accountancy profession in 1990 after completing her B.Sc. in Mathematics. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, a Certified Public Accountant (USA) and a Diploma holder in Business Finance from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India. She has over 30 years of experience serving large and midsized clients in several sectors in areas of audit, taxation, corporate finance, risk management and corporate governance. She also has expertise in the area of Corporate Advisory, M&A and restructuring activities. Ms. Padmini Khare Kaicker is serving on the Boards of reputed companies, including being Chairperson of the Audit Committees.

An engineer and a post graduate in business management, he began his career on the shop floor of Tata Motors and rose to be President of its car business before joining the group board of the Aditya Birla group as an executive director, on which he remained for nearly nine years. He has served on several other Indian and foreign boards in various capacities over 21 years and brings deep insights in corporate governance, management and transformation of businesses as varied as auto, metals, mining, power and renewables, cement, trading, textiles, retail and financial services.

An avid sustainability champion, he was an alternate Council Member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Geneva and has been active on several industry bodies.

Currently, Mr. Rajiv Dube is an advisory board member and professor of practice at the Deakin Business School, Melbourne and a senior advisor to firms in India and Australia.