Tata Sons set to name Chandrasekaran as new chairman - TV

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's $100 billion salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Sons is likely to name a new chairman on Thursday, local media reported, with two television stations saying its software services unit's boss N. Chandrasekaran was poised to take the helm.

Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group - a business empire ranging from Jaguar Land Rover and steel mills to aviation and salt pans - ousted its chairman Cyrus Mistry in October, sparking a bitter public spat.

Chandrasekaran, 53 and a Tata Group veteran, currently heads IT outsourcing firm Tata Consultancy Services, India's most-valuable company with a market capitalisation of $67 billion.

"Let's not speculate," he said, when asked at a news conference on Thursday, after TCS unveiled its quarterly results, whether he was getting the Tata Sons chairman's role.

A masters degree holder in computer applications, Chandrasekaran joined the group in 1987, and rose through the ranks to become TCS CEO in 2009.

He was named to the Tata Sons board in October, after Mistry's ouster. Chandrasekaran also serves on the board of Reserve Bank of India.

Tata Sons held a board meeting on Thursday afternoon, at which Chandrasekaran was unanimously endorsed as the new chairman, TV station CNBC TV18 reported, citing an unnamed board member.

Television stations also said TCS chief financial officer Rajesh Gopinathan would be appointed as the software services company's chief executive.

Ratan Tata, patriarch of one of India's most influential families, had taken over as interim chairman of Tata Sons after the board ousted Mistry.

In October, Tata Sons' board had set up a five-member selection committee that included Ratan Tata to choose a new chairman within the next four months.

When asked if Tata Sons was naming a new chairman on Thursday, a spokesman said the company would not comment on speculation.

(Writing by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Alex Richardson)