Corus, JLR acquisitions at inopportune time: Tata

In an interview published in the Sunday Times, Tata admitted with hindsight that he might have gone too far too fast, but that nobody saw the economic recession coming.

"If one had known there was going to be a meltdown, then yes (Tata went too far), but nobody knew. Both the acquisitions were made, I would say, at an inopportune time in the sense that they were near the top of the market in terms of price," Tata told the Sunday Times.

Recession is making Tata's recent international spending spree look ill-timed as he bought Corus and JLR just as the boom reached its peak.

Tata Steel paid 6.7 billion pound for Corus, which, when measured as a multiple of the target company's earnings, made it the most expensive steel deal to date. A year later Tata Motors paid 1.15 billion pound for JLR.

Tata is one of the largest inward investors in Britain. Besides JLR and Corus, which together employ about 40,000 people, the Indian conglomerate also owns Tetley Tea and is also present in the UK through other businesses such as chemicals and IT.