The Governance Council intends to develop a self-appraisal mechanism to assess the role and contribution of Board members. This will eventually enable the board to structure a governance framework for evaluating its performance. Such proposals will be developed periodically and brought to the Tata Sons board for consideration.

At the last meeting, a significant decision by the board was that non-executive directors of Tata Sons will now retire on attainment of the age of 70 (against 75 currently). In the interests of continuity and to ensure a smooth transition, the implementation of this change in retirement age will be completed over the next five years.

Some other senior level changes have also been announced : Mr. NA Soonawala, on completing 65 years, retired from his executive positions as finance director of Tata Sons and director-in-charge of Tata Financial Services. Mr. Soonawala continues to be a non-executive director on the board of Tata Sons, as also in other Tata companies, and will be involved in the group’s investment portfolio and some other specific assignments.

Mr. Ishaat Hussain, executive director of Tata Sons, has taken over as finance director of Tata Sons and director-in-charge of Tata Financial Services, through which he will handle the group finance function.

Mr. Manab Bose, group human resources director, has, at his request and for personal reasons, been relocated to Bangalore, to work on a special assignment. All personnel reporting to Mr. Bose will now report to Mr. R. Gopalakrishnan.

The group executive office now comprises Mr. R.N Tata, Mr. Ishaat Hussain, Mr. R.Gopalakrishnan and Mr. K A Chaukar.