The Tata group’s revenues for 2008-09 from its international operations were $70.8 billion, which constitutes 64.8 per cent of its total revenues.

Each operating company in the group develops its international business as an integral element in an overall strategy, depending on the competitive dynamics of the industry in which it operates. For some businesses a focus on the domestic Indian market remains the priority. For others it is developing a robust presence in neighbouring markets. And then there are Tata companies, a small but growing number, that have global ambitions.

Exports from India remain the cornerstone of the Tata group’s international business, but different Tata companies are increasingly investing in assets overseas through greenfield projects (such as in South Africa, Bangladesh and Iran), joint ventures (in South Africa, Morocco and China) and acquisitions.

Acquisitions are a crucial component of the global expansion of Tata enterprises. Over the past ten years the group has made overseas acquisitions. Among the bigger deals on this front have been Tetley, Brunner Mond, Corus, Jaguar and Land Rover in the UK, Daewoo Commercial Vehicles in South Korea, NatSteel in Singapore, and Tyco Global Network and General Chemical in the US. 

Priority markets
While individual Tata companies have differing geographical imperatives, the Tata group is focusing on a clutch of priority countries, which are expected to be of strategic importance in the years ahead. The regions are North America, UK, China, the Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Brazil, Vietnam, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons, sums up the Tata group’s efforts to internationalise its operations thus: “I hope that a hundred years from now we will spread our wings far beyond India, that we become a global group, operating in many countries, an Indian business conglomerate that is at home in the world, carrying the same sense of trust that we do today.”