Farokh N. Subedar is a hard-nosed professional when it comes to structuring deals, handling intricate transactions, and interpreting complex laws. But he’s a softie with plants. Meet the senior vice president (finance) and company secretary of Tata Sons

A chartered accountant with a passion for gardening seems as rare as a balance sheet that sprouts flowers. Farokh N. Subedar is that uncommon creature, a consummate professional at ease with matters financial and horticultural.

Currently the senior vice president (finance) and company secretary at Tata Sons, Mr Subedar takes unusual pride in the grandness, the values and the vision of the group he feels privileged to be a part of. Lucky too, because he came to Tata Sons, the holding company of the group, at a pivotal period in its evolution.

The 46-year-old Mr Subedar started his career in 1979 with Gleitlager India, an Indo-Japanese joint venture. He joined Tata Sons in 1985 and worked in areas such as taxation and company law before becoming involved with the restructuring of the textile companies in the Tata Group. He was the company secretary at Svadeshi Mills prior to moving back to Tata Sons in 1989. At present he is on the boards of several Tata companies.

Mr Subedar speaks here to Sujata Agrawal.

On being a chartered accountant
Taxation was a kind of first love for me, with finance coming second. My father was a chartered accountant and my interest in the subject evolved from that. He was my role model and I learnt the ropes subconsciously. He used to make me read articles on taxation and he started taking me to Nani Palkivala’s lectures when I was in the eighth standard.

I think I was influenced by my father mentioning that he would be able to help me only if I became a chartered accountant, and that he would not be able to contribute anything if I chose engineering or science. I guess I had a head start to some extent. By the time I was in the seventh or eighth standard, it had been decided that I would become a chartered accountant. It wasn’t forced or anything, though.

The thing about chartered accountancy is that, somehow, at the end of the day you are not creating something new, like, say, an engineer who makes cars. I try and compensate by being creative in my work. I pride myself on suggesting innovative solutions.

The initial years
I joined Gleitlager India in 1979 after qualifying as a chartered accountant. I was involved in many different areas with the company: accounting, financial, tax, secretarial issues, even sales. It was a learning experience and it gave me good exposure in diverse fields. I feel starting in a small company is an advantage; you don't get tied down in structured systems, whereas in a large organisation you tend to stick to a particular area.

Joining the Tatas
I moved to the Tata Group in 1985. There were many reasons for this, primary among them being the awe in which the Tata name was held. Also, I realised that being with a small organisation has its constraints. Gleitlager was a family-run business. I felt I had done quite a bit, and that there wasn’t much scope to do a whole lot more.

On the day I joined Tata Sons, my boss told me to read R. M. Lala’s Creation of Wealth to get an idea about the group. At about 4 pm I went back to him and his jaw dropped when I told I had finished the book. 

A time for change
I was lucky to be with the Tata Group in the 1990s, this being a critical period for Tata Sons. Early in the decade Tata Sons was still primarily an investment company; it had investments of just Rs 61 crore then and played a limited role in group activities. We have grown tremendously since. Today, following the VSNL acquisition, Tata Sons' investments are close to Rs 4,000 crore. You don't realise the enormity of the transformation when you look at issues individually. This could only have been achieved with the support and dedication of a committed team.

The turning point for Tata Sons came in 1995. This was when the company started making much larger investments. The group decided to increase its stake in Tata Steel and Tata Engineering. A rights issue took place and this changed, to some extent, the shareholding composition in the company. Overall, the role of Tata Sons started undergoing a sea change.

When Mr Ratan Tata took over as group chairman in 1991, he established a central role for Tata Sons. Many programmes were initiated, and consultants were called in to help. There was suddenly so much happening at Tata Sons: the JRD QV award, the group executive office in its present form, the corporate affairs department, and more.

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