C Ramakrishnan: Tata Motors President And Group CFO

Chandrasekaran Ramakrishnan graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and is a Chartered Accountant and a Cost Accountant. In 1980 C Ramakrishnan joined Tata Motors Limited as a Junior Accounts Officer in H.O. Accounts. He handled corporate treasury and accounting functions as well as management accounting. C Ramakrishnan was responsible for a two-year company-wide IT project covering R&D, manufacturing, sourcing and sales & service. He then worked in the Chairman’s Office for the last 6 years. 

C Ramakrishnan was part of the high profile team that forged the recent alliance with Italy’s number one care maker Fiat. He was deeply involved in working out the details of the deal with Fiat. He served as a Vice President of the Chairman’s Office and Executive Director of Finance of Tata Motors. C Ramakrishnan is a group veteran and has been involved in various large activities related to Tata Motors. 

He has been the Chief Financial Officer at Tata Motors Limited since September 18, 2007 and serves as its President and Compliance Officer.  In July 2015 he was promoted to group CFO. Now CFOs of all Tata Motors subsidiaries like Jaguar Land Rover, Daewoo among others will report to him. 

C Ramakrishnan serves as Director of Tata Motors Insurance Services Limited, Jaguar Land Rover India Limited, Fiat India Automobile Limited, Tata Cummings Limited, Sheba Properties Limited, Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co. Limited, Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC, UK, Tata Motors (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Tata Hispano Motors Carrocera, SA, Tata Motors (Thailand)  Limited and Tata Service Limited. He serves as a Non-Executive Director of Tata Technologies Limited and Tata Motors Finance Limited. C Ramakrishnan has been a Director of TML Holdings Pte Ltd, since February 4, 2008.

He was awarded the Indian Industries best CFO award at the CNBC TV 18 CFO awards held in October 2010. C Ramakrishnan was also conferred the CFO of the year for India, by Asset Triple A Transaction Banking Awards 2011, among various awards he has  received. 

Tata Motors is the largest automaker in India. 

Staying The Family Course

Ratan Tata did not actually come from a poor family. Born in 1937, he went on to study at Cornell University earning an architecture degree in structural engineering. He had the advantage of being a member of the Tata family which owned the largest industrial business in India. 

While many members of prominent families have not made the most of their high status in life, Ratan stayed the course and made his own contributions to make the Tata group of companies grow even bigger. Joining the family business in 1962, he held key positions in many of the companies.  He then became Chairman of Tata Industries in 1981. There he changed the orientation of the holding company making it a group strategy think-tank, and also started ventures in the area of high technology. 

In 1991 he became the Chairman of Tata Sons the holding company that basically oversees the Tata businesses. Other chairmanships include Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Power, Tata Global Beverages, and others.  He has become over the years a well-respected businessman and a giant figure in Indian business and society. 

He guided the Tata group into a more outward looking company, with a good size of its profit now coming outside of India. One of his notable international business moves was acquiring Jaguar Land Rover from Ford Motors.  He is also behind the creation of the well-know Nano car, India’s answer to the fuel crisis. His skills and reputation cover the international arena, being advisory board member of such global companies as Mitsubishi and JP Morgan as well as the Monetary Authority of Singapore. 

Following the footsteps of other prominent Tata family members, he has made his own contributions that have impacted both India and the global market.