Ratan Tata visits Tata Motors Pune plant after five years

Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata was accorded a rousing welcome by the staff and employees at the sprawling Tata Motors Ltd (TML) plant here on Monday.

Accompanied by Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, Tata alighted from a helicopter, making it his first visit to the plant after over five years, official sources said.

"It was part of Tata's ongoing series of visits to some Group plants. He interacted with the staff in a town-hall style meeting. It was purely an internal affair," a source said.

The trip was part of a tradition initiated by Tata himself of 'All Hands Meet' to mark the beginning of the new financial year in the TML, years ago.

Present during the visit were TML CEO and Managing Director Guenter Butschek, other top officials and heads of different departments, at the town hall in Lake House, which made Tata nostalgic as he had spent many years there.

During the interaction, Tata discussed the recent lean periods of TML which culminated in the company regaining its fourth position in the passenger vehicles segment by the end of 2017-2018.

Besides Tata, Chandrasekaran and Butschek also addressed the gathering on the past, the future challenges, the markets and consumers and exhorted the employees to become 'leaders and not followers' for achieving success.

--IANS

qn/him/vm