Tata to make a very, very big investment in semiconductors: chairman N. Chandrasekaran

Chandrasekaran thanked industrialist and former Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata for the support and his colleagues in Tata

N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, TATA Sons receiving the 20th MMA-Amalgamations Business Leadership Award 2023 from A. Krishnamoorthy, Chairman, Amalgamations Group in the presence of (from left) K. Mahalingam, President, MMA; S. Gurumurthy, Corporate Advisor; Mallika Srinivasan, CMD, TAFE and R. Seshasayee, Chairman, Asian Paints. | Photo Credit: Bijoy Ghosh

Tata would make a “very, very big investment” in electronics and semiconductors and it would announce the fab, a specialised factory for production “very soon” to produce “multiple nodes”, Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran said in Chennai on Wednesday.

Delivering the 20th Anantharamakrishnan Memorial Lecture, after receiving the MMA-Amalgamations Business Leadership Award 2023, Mr. Chandrasekaran said Tata has made bets for the future and semiconductors was one of them. While Tata has made “bold calls”, it has also said no to many, “which did not fit” them, he said.

Mr. Chandrasekaran said Tata had placed “bets for the future” one of which was Air India and “definitely on electronics and semiconductors”. Earlier, Amalgamations Group chairman A. Krishnamoorthy presented the MMA-Amalgamations Business Leadership Award 2023 to Mr. Chandrasekaran.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Chandrasekaran thanked industrialist and former Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata for the support and his colleagues in Tata. He also thanked his wife Ms. Latha Chandrasekaran for her support.

Mr. Krishnamoorthy said as the 20th recipient of the award, Mr. Chandrasekaran joined the elite echelon of institutions builders of modern India. He also recalled the humble beginnings of the founder of the Amalgamations Group S. Anantharamakrishnan and further underlined his vision and commitment to business ethics.

Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, TAFE, recalled her opportunity to work with Mr. Chandrasekaran to understand his leadership style, strategic approach, emphasis on financial fitness and strengthening of the core to drive transformative and profitable growth.

S. Gurumurthy, corporate advisor and commentator on economics, finance and politics said that Mr. Chandrasekaran was a rare combination of excellence and ethics in business. Asian Paints chairman R. Seshasayee said that the jury took less than five minutes to decide on Mr. Chandrasekaran for the award and that he personified the new resurgent India led by its moral compass.

Senior advocate in the Madras High Court Arvind Datar said Tata continued to retain its reputation and recalled how while arguing a case in the Supreme Court, two judges sought to know from him if his client was following the same balance sheet practice as that of a Tata company.

Earlier, Madras Management Association president K. Mahalingam welcomed the gathering. MMA executive director R. Vijayakumar was also present.