Not going slow on international operations: Tatas

Undeterred by the trouble facing its steel operations in Britain, Tata Group today said the strategy to globalise is not impacted by this development and that the company will continue to develop international presence.
The USD 110-billion conglomerate draws 70 per cent of its revenue from international markets and a good portion of that comes from its two British acquisitions in the past decade -- Corus Steel and the auto business under the Jaguar Land Rover label.
"Some people are assuming that now the Tatas are giving up on their global brands. (That is) far from the truth... Right now, 70 per cent of our revenues come from international operations.

"We are actually now a truly global corporate rather than an Indian company," Tata Sons brand custodian and Group Executive Council member Mukund Rajan told reporters here.
"There has been a point of view that because of what is happening at some group companies, there is now an effort to consolidate back into India and that we are not so keen on overseas exposure... That is not correct," he added, citing the examples of TCS and the hugely successful acquisition of the JLR.
Rajan said in the "wake of the recent events", many people have raised questions over the group's strategy when it comes to its global presence, and if we are consolidating back into India.

"I would like to reassure you that (global operations) is very much a part of the Tata Group focus and will continue to remain so," he said.

He also stressed that as the country liberalises more, competing with the best brands globally also helps the group face competition domestically in a better way.
The comments come in the wake of the reverses faced by the group with the Corus Steel acquisition, and the recent decision to pull out of its alloy business in Britain to contain the mounting losses.
The company on March 29 had put on block Tata Steel UK for sale in part or in full, as the business has lost its complete book value and was running into heavy losses.

Rajan said the journey to globalise its business has been an eye-opener for the conglomerate.
"One of the reasons for that journey was purely to ensure we were testing our capabilities and competencies against global best in the markets where it counts, like the US, Europe and China. That has played a significant role in opening our eyes to what global success really requires," he said.