Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Group, has announced that he was delighted with the great response that AirAsia India joint venture airline's hiring process received.

AirAsia India, joint venture among Malaysia's budget airline AirAsia, Tata Sons and Arun Bhatia of Telstra Tradeplace, recently conducted interviews for flight attendants in Chennai. Interviews for one hundred cabin crew positions reportedly attracted more than 3,500 candidates.

Mumbai, March 26 : Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) president L. Rafael Reif Tuesday called on Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan along with chairman emeritus of Tata Group Ratan Tata.

Reif in his meeting with Chavan mentioned MIT's commitment to research in the fields of water resources, energy and agriculture, areas which are of significant concern to India, according to an official from the Chief Minister's Office.

Reif also mentioned that the MIT and Tata Group are already working together in the field of technology research and development.

Mumbai, March 8 : Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of the Tata Group, Friday visited Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray at the latter's Shivaji Park residence, an official said.

An MNS official described the hour-long visit as "a casual, courtesy call" with no agenda behind it.

Tata met Thackeray and his wife Sharmila at their flat in Krishnakunj building in Shivaji Park, Dadar, Friday afternoon.(IANS)

The former Chairman of Tata Group, Ratan Tata has joined other international eminent persons in the launch of the Global Ocean Commission (GOC).

New Delhi/Mumbai, Dec 28 : Ratan Tata, 75, retired gracefully as the chairman of the Tata Group, and handed over its management to Cyrus Mistry on Friday.

Mistry, 44, was designated as the next chairman of one of India's largest business group's in November 2011.

Mistry is a member of the Tata family by marriage and his father -- construction magnate Pallonji Mistry, is the largest single holder of shares in Tata Sons (18 percent), the group's holding company.

Tata Group's outgoing chairman Ratan Tata will not only hand over reigns of the 100-billion salt to software conglomerate to Cyrus Mistry but also several problems of group.

On December 28, 43-year-old Mistry will take over the conglomerate as it new chairman. He will have more than one hundred companies, around 81,000 employees and revenues of Rs 1,45,000 crore to look after. The group companies operate in diverse fields, ranging from salt to software to look after.

Salt to software conglomerate Tata Group's outgoing chairman, Ratan Tata, has hinted that some day the group could go back to West Bengal.

Tata Motors, the automobile division of Tata Group, had initially tried to produce its Nano car from a plant in Singur district of West Bengal, but political protests forced the manufacturer to shift the plant to Sanand in Gujarat.

Mr. Ratan said Singur was a "great disappointment" for them but added that he had a great affinity with West Bengal and would like to see something happen there.

Ratan Tata, outgoing chairman of the $100 billion Tata group, has advised his successor, Cyrus Mistry, to be his own person.

Dismissing views that his personality would linger even after his departure, Mr. Tata said that Mr. Mistry should decide what he would want to.

Speaking about his five decades with Tata group and his equation with Mr. Mistry, he said, "I don't think it is right to have a ghost to shadow over somebody. You [Mr. Mistry] should be your own person, you should take your own call and you should decide what you want to."

Ratan Tata, the outgoing Chairman of the Tata group, has said that the conglomerate is not likely to enter the civil aviation sector in the country due to destructive competition among various players.

Tata group was among the first to enter the sector in the country has since stayed away from the sector. Mr. Tata said that there was a proposal to set up a domestic carriers in association with Singapore International Airlines (SIA) in the mid-1990s.

The government is pushing investment away from the country and forcing Indian companies to look to other emerging markets for growth, Ratan Tata said.

Ratan Tata, the outgoing head of a huge conglomerate whose business ranges from salt to software, accused the government of lacking coherence in its policies and of failing to address industries' complaints about bureaucracy.

The fabric of Indian values and ethics is gradually deteriorating, particularly in the business community, but Tata Group will not involve itself in corruption and bribery because it is based on strong ethics, India's largest conglomerate’s head Ratan Tata has claimed.

Mr. Tata was speaking during a ceremony in which the University of New South Wales awarded him with an honorary Doctorate of Business.

He said that India had several changes of government, but the outlook might not be as bad as one might think.

Tata Global Beverages (TGB), the Rs 6,631-crore beverages division of Tata Group, has said that it would focus on the tea, coffee & water segments, rather than making a foray into the food space.

Around two years back, Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata had said that the company might enter the food segment. Later, the company announced that it would make acquisitions to foray into the food space.

But, TGB Managing Director Harish Bhat recently said in an interview, "We are a natural beverages company and our focus will be on tea, coffee and water."

According to Automotive News, Indian automaker Tata is working on plans to bring the world's cheapest car - Tata Nano - to the US markets by 2015.

Citing the information shared by Tata's billionaire chairman Ratan Tata, Automotive News said that, despite the fact that Tata is yet to fully disclose its distribution plan for the Nano's launch in the US market, the super-affordable small car will be available in the US in three years; though the original timeline for the release was 2013.

Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata has identified a strategic and long-term roadmap for Tata Global Beverages Ltd, the beverages company's Managing Director & CEO Harish Bhat said on Friday.

Mr. Bhat said that Tata Global Beverages Ltd would introduce innovative products, mainly in the health & wellness segments, as a part of the newly identified roadmap.

The Tata group's soon to be outgoing chief, Ratan Tata has said that he wants another attempt to promote Tata Nano, often termed as the world's cheapest car, and make it successful in the market.

"The Nano is something I would love to make successful because I don't think it's exploited its full potential right now. There has to be another push to make Nano what it can be," he said while speaking to a TV news channel.

Ratan Tata has chaired the annual general meeting of his group firm, Tata Motors for the last time before he retires as the chairman of Tata Sons this year.

Mr. Tata will pass on the chairmanship to Cyrus Mistry, who is an engineer and MBA from UK, said Mr. Tata. He also thanked the company shareholders for their support and backing for him and now he wants them to provide similar support to Mr. Mistry.

Indian automajor Maruti Suzuki India declared 23 per cent decline in net profit on year-on-year basis. The company reported Rs 424 crore profit and blamed the decline on fall in Indian currency which impacted the import costs for the auto major which recorded an increase in net sales.

Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata has said in a recent interview that the inadequate infrastructure remains a major roadblock for the growth in the country.

He also said that the government is also required to focus on addressing the water problems in the country. He agreed that providing facilities to the bottom of pyramid is a real challenge for the country. He pointed out that the culture of India and pride in India is very strong and thus it has the potential to emerge as a powerful nation.

He sounded a positive note about the country's potential and brushed aside fears that the neighboring China's larger economy might overpower the country. He said that India needs to manage its food distribution in a better manner.

Microsoft co-founder and chairman, Bill Gates, Wipro chairman Azim Premji and Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata jointly hosted a meeting for corporate leaders from various industries to share ideas on philanthropy at a hotel.

The philanthropy meeting began at around 3 pm and ended at 8 pm and was attended by as many as 80 corporates from various cities of the country. Sunil Bharti Mittal, G V K Reddy, S Gopalakrishnan, Anu Aga, Rohini and Nandan Nilekani, Naveen Jindal, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and V G Siddhartha were among those present for the event.

Ratan Tata, the chairman of Tata Group, has asked the firms of one of India's largest business groups to review their targets in the new year amid a economic slowdown.

He also warned against taking a extremely cautious approach and forgo economic opportunities in the ongoing slowdown. He said in his annual message to employees that group companies would "review and moderate" the predictions of future and make their expansion plans in accordance with the current realities.