Tatas, best Indian brand globally: Survey

The Tata Group is India’s best corporate brand ambassador both within and outside India, according to a survey of 78 top Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and heads of companies by trade body Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Assocham) conducted in the first fortnight of December this year.

Assocham said on Saturday in a statement on the survey that the respondents comprised executives from New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, London, Singapore and New York.

The Tata Group pipped many other contenders including Wipro, Infosys and Mahindra & Mahindra to emerge as India’s numero uno global brand, the survey said.

 The best rating for the group was in Western Europe, followed by the US and South-East Asia, the survey said, adding that its recent acquisitions and the turnaround story of Jaguar Land Rover had made a positive impact on brand Tata.

President of Assocham Rajkumar N Dhoot, in his comments on the survey’s findings, said, “The Tata story which began in 1868 by Jamsetji N Tata has been the most successful story of India Inc.

The role played by Mr Ratan Tata and Mr J R D Tata in making the group truly global has been deservedly recognized all over the world.” According to the survey, 77 per cent of the respondents were also confident of Ratan Tata’s successor, 44-year-old Cyrus Mistry’s ability to uphold the group’s legacy.

Mistry’s biggest challenge would lie in steering the group through the current phase of slowdown being witnessed in India and globally. Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, will step down on December 28 to pave the way for Cyrus Mistry.

The 140-year-old group, comprising about 100 companies with interests in mining, automobiles, financial services, information technology, energy, telecommunications, beverages and hospitality in about 80 countries, posted combined turnover $100 billion in 2011-12.

As of December 20, 2012, the group had 32 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of Rs $88 billion and about 3.8 million shareholders. It employs about 4.50 lakh employees worldwide, according to its website.

The survey found that automaker Mahindra & Mahindra, led by Anand Mahindra, and Bangalore-based information technology company Infosys Technologies, were rated quite high among Indian corporates, for their courageous global expansion moves.