Tatas beckon students from US B-schools
Business Standard — March 6, 2008

The Tata Group, one of India's largest business houses, has made summer internship offers to 19 students of five leading US business schools this year, up from the seven offers it made last year.

"These 19 internship offers are likely to be converted into final jobs," said Satish Pradhan, executive vice president, group HR, Tata Sons.

The group received a total of 114 applications, 33 of these from students of Harvard Business School and 35 from Kellogg School of Management. Others came from the Chicago GSB, Stanford GSB and Wharton Business School, an indication of the growing interest of international talent in Indian companies.

Last year, Tatas received about 50 applications.

The Tata Group, that has some 100 companies in seven different sectors, had initiated the Tata Advanced Internship Programme in 2005, to attract talent from international campuses. The company has been also sending its top executives to these business schools as visiting faculty.

"The rise in interest by applicants is partly because of the company's efforts and the increasing interest among international students to work in the growing Indian economy," Pradhan said.

This interest in summer internship programmes has a correlation to Indian companies expanding their wings in foreign countries.

The Tata Group, for instance, crossed the $50 billion turnover mark in 2007, with the acquisition of Europe's second largest steel producer Corus in January. It reported $28.8 billion as revenue for 2006-07.

Corus' revenue has been counted as part of the group since April. Now, Tata Motors is leading the race to buy American car maker Ford's luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover.