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Ratan Tata Successor to Be Found by March

Back in November last year, a rumor surfaced: Ratan Tata, the 71-year old automotive tycoon, chairman of the Indian Tata group, is looking for someone to step into his shoes sometime in the near future.

The rumor, confirmed by Tata in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, got a new dimension this week. According to a report by BBC, Tata has appointed a five-member panel to look into all the applications and select the future chairman of the company by March 2011.

By selecting the new Tata chief ahead of the current auto mogul's retirement, a smoother transition will be insured, the company believes.

"We are working on this and will finalise something by February-March next year,"
Tata representative Krishna Kumar was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India. "We will announce the name by then."

There is still a shroud of secrecy surrounding the possible names of the ones to take over the business. In 2009, Ratan Tata said he is not necessarily keen on keeping the business within the family, and the new ruler of his empire might come from outside the company and family altogether.

"It would certainly be easier if that candidate were an Indian national. But now that 65 percent of our revenues come from overseas, it could also be an expatriate sitting in that position with justification now,” Tata added.

The Indian press speculates that the most likely candidate from within the family is , Ratan's half brother. Arun Sarin, former chairman for Vodafone, if the likely outside candidate.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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