Vandrevala Rising At Tata Power

The Tata group is putting in place a well-oiled succession plan at Tata Power. Firdose Vandrevala, deputy managing director of Tata Steel, will take over in a similar capacity at Tata Power from November 1.

Vandrevala is set to take charge as managing director from Adi Engineer, who will retire on August 31 next year. AM Sahni, the other executive director at Tata Power, is laying down office on October 31 paving the way for Vandrevala's appointment.

Tata Power is however yet to fill in the position of finance head which fell vacant last year when executive director CR Vevaina resigned. General manager Rumi Kanga is currently overseeing the finance function.

Vandrevala's new role follows two similar moves: at Voltas, where Ashok Soni was made deputy managing director, and at Titan where Bhaskar Bhatt was elevated to the same position.

Soni and Bhatt are to take over the managing director's job from Nawshir Khurody and Xerxes Desai, respectively. Both Desai and Khurody will retire later this fiscal.

Vandrevala's term will be initially for five years and the company is planning to seek shareholders nod for the move at the next annual general meeting, the Tata group has said in a press release.

Vandrevala had joined Tata Steel in 1972 and has held various senior positions before being elevated to his current assignment.

Tata Power is emerging as a key company in the Tata group and has graduated from a mere power company to being the group's energy arm. It has tied up with TotalFina Elf of France to set up an LNG terminal and power plant, and also has a wholly-owned oil exploration arm.

At the same time, it is one of the key constituents of the group's new economy initiatives, with broadband connectivity emerging as a thrust area. The company is presently wiring up its licensed area in Mumbai and plans to expand into other cities as well.