MUMBAI: After occupying various top positions at different Tata Group companies for more than two decades, Tata PowerBSE -0.17 % chief executive officer Anil Sardana is understood to be soon putting in his papers, two persons with knowledge of the development said.
“Sardana’s resignation is imminent…..it could be anytime this week,” one of the two persons cited above said. A Tata Power spokesperson declined to comment.
Sardana, who steered the company through turbulent times to reinvent itself as a leading renewable energy company, is seeking growth opportunities outside the group, the second person said.
The Tata Group, under chairman N Chandrasekaran, has been trying to restructure the conglomerate by creating around five verticals, consolidating businesses with potential synergies. As part of the exercise, the group was planning to create a defence and infrastructure vertical by bringing in the power projects and defence-related businesses under one roof, and it would be headed by former GE executive Banmali Agrawala. Tourism, financial services and consumption are some other likely verticals.
Agrawala, who was working with Tata Power, was reporting to Sardana. “After the current restructuring, Sardana would have reported to Agrawala,” the second person said.
Sardana also served as the executive director (business development & strategy) for Tata Power from March 1, 2007, to August 3, 2007, and continued to be on its board until July 1, 2008. He was the MD of Tata TeleservicesBSE -0.42 % for more than three years from 2007 to 2011, it said.
Some officials said Sardana took calculated risks to help Tata Power tide over heavy losses incurred by the UMPP at Mundra, which would have used imported coal.
He strengthened the renewable power capacity by purchasing the 1.1 gigawatt of Welspun Renewables, which became the bone of contention between the Tata Sons and its former chairman Cyrus Mistry.
“I feel calculated risks taken by Sardanha helped the company float even after Mundra. If it were any other CEO, Tata Power would have gone into liquidation,” the first person said.
“He has helped the company bid for a mine in eastern Russia and if the plan succeeds, it will give the company access to better coal that will make the project viable and keep Tata Power afloat.”
Source: economictimes.indiatimes
