The Chandrasekaran Decade: How N Chandrasekaran Rewired the Tata Group

“In my new role, I will focus on three strategic priorities: bring the group closer together to leverage its enormous collective strength; reinforce a leader’s mindset among the operating companies and drive world-class operating performances across the group, ”this was N Chandrasekaran’s address to the first board meeting he chaired after his appointment as the Chairman of Tata Sons on January 12, 2017. For the next decade, he worked towards executing this plan through many strategic capital allocations, investments, acquisitions, and exits.  

The Tata Group that Chandrasekaran took over was in need of a serious structural overhaul. Many subsidiary companies which had similar businesses were operating under different parent companies. Tata Motors had lost its footing in the passenger vehicle segment, and the telecom business was reporting losses quarter over quarter.  The group’s fast-moving consumer businesses were scattered across three businesses.

To streamline the management and prepare for the next phase of growth, Chandrasekaran implemented a strategy that he called 3S- Simplify, Synergise and Scale. Through Simplify- he consolidated the group companies’ diversified operations into single entities by merging some subsidiaries and exiting some businesses that were not part of the core business. Through Synergise- he brought separate companies closer to complement each other’s business. And through Scale- he leveraged the Tata Group's immense capital power to grow the emerging businesses, doubled down on mature businesses, and bet big on the emerging opportunities.  

Here is a look at the investment strategies pursued by N Chandrasekharan during his tenure as the Chairman of Tata Sons:

Tata Aerospace & Defence consolidation-  

Before Chandrasekaran took over, Tata’s aerospace and defence operations were fragmented across different companies, from Tata Motors, Tata Power, to Tata Advanced Systems. Chandrasekaran saw to the transfer of these different operations from several companies under one banner called Tata Aerospace & Defence, making it a single unit under Tata Advanced Systems in April 2018.

At the same time, Tata Sons infused ₹630 crore in the merged entity. Post consolidation, Tata Advanced Systems’ revenue grew 3x within a 3-year period. The consolidation eliminated duplicity and improved margins. As a result, the consolidated revenue grew from Rs 969 crore in FY20 to Rs 5,000 crore in FY25, company filings show.  In FY26, Tata Sons announced a Rs 30,000 crore equity investment across group companies, including Tata Advanced Systems.  

Tata Motors resurgence 

When Chandrasekaran took over, Tata Motors was not in a pleasant position. Its Passenger Vehicle (PV) vertical’s market share was at just 5.2%, and Commercial Vehicles (CV), market share was at its lowest in the last 5 years.

“In the domestic business segment, business turnaround is the need of the hour”, Chandrasekaran said in Tata Motors’ FY17 annual report. He said that delays in new product launches, as well as a lack of adequate responsiveness to the competitive environment and an unsustainable cost structure, have contributed to this performance.

In the following years, Chandrasekaran carried out several measures to resolve these issues within Tata Motors. First came capex and new model launches. From FY18 to FY25, Tata Motors carried out a capital expenditure of about Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 crore annually acrore across the domestic passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and Jaguar Land Rover segments, company filings show. During the same period, it launched over a dozen new nameplate models across the ICE and EV segments, including models like Nexon, Harrier, and Punch.  

Secondly, Chandrasekaran decided to separate the different divisions of Tata Motors under separate management. First, he separated Jaguar Land Rover operations from India operations in 2022, and then he demerged the PV and CV business in November 2025. By the end of 2025, Tata Motors PV was the second biggest passenger car maker in India. At the same time, the CV company held the largest market share.  

Digital and Ecommerce consolidation 

In 2019, Chandrasekaran unveiled Tata Digital to consolidate its digital operations under one roof. The move would later bring together its in-house ecommerce vertical, Tata Neu and acquire startups like Big Basket and 1mg to optimise product synergy, logistics, and financials. 

Over the years, the Tata Group invested about Rs 26,000 crore in Tata Digital. While the move was aimed at creating a cohort of companies that would take on ecommerce giants like Amazon and quick-commerce startups like Blinkit, the company’s test continues as competition in the segment remains far from over.  

Exit from telecom 

Another major strategic decision Chandrasekaran made was to exit its long-pursued telecom dream. In 2017, Tata’s consumer-facing telecom business was the most distressed asset. On the one hand, it was in court against its partner NTT Docomo, which was demanding $1.1 billion; on the other hand, new entrant Reliance Jio was waging a brutal price war.  

The losses were mounting, and running a telecom company in such an intense price war was a challenge. Chandrasekaran decided to exit the consumer telecom sector completely. First, he settled the dispute with NTT Docomo, then sold the business to Bharti Airtel. In the following months, Tata Sons paid about ₹50,000 crore to pay the lenders and vendors to put an end to the fiasco. 

Air India homecoming 

While most of Chandrasekaran's capital allocations and management decisions began showing results in a span of 4-5 years, the Air India bet remains a work in progress.

In 2021, Chandrasekaran brought Air India back to the Tata Group. The Group acquired the airline from the government in a Rs 18,000-crore deal. In the following years, he oversaw the merger of AIX Connect and Vistara into Air India.  

Furthermore, in the years after the acquisition, Air India would receive an additional ₹18,000 crore for fleet retrofitting and new aircraft purchase from promoters, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines. 

Since the takeover, Air India’s journey has remained far from smooth. The continued operational and financial issues have become a big concern for the group. In FY26 alone, the airline reported a loss of ₹22,238 crore.  

As Chandrasekaran parts ways with Tata Sons, he has almost finished the task of bringing together the fragmented Tata Group. Many of his turnaround and restructuring initiatives, such as Tata Aerospace and Defense, Tata Telecom, and Tata Consumer, have shown results; some larger bets, like Air India, remain works in progress.