Watch list '09

First among equals
Swati Piramal, 52, Director, Piramal Healthcare, will be the first woman at the helm of any apex chamber in India when she takes over as President, Assocham, in 2009. “I think it is a great achievement and a big responsibility,” she says. So, what is it that she wants to do after taking over her new role? “I want to learn about industries other than my own (pharma) and be a voice of the industry,” she says. Piramal also wants to chalk out a new mission and vision for the chamber that will include a closer look at women’s issues.Slippery turf?
The sharp crude price drop along with a dip in international refining margins has come as a double whammy for Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, 51. The prolific D6 block of Krishna-Godavari Basin started producing oil in August 2008. It seems that a worried Ambani has deferred the commissioning of the Reliance Petroleum refinery at Jamnagar to March 2009. It was originally slated to start on December 15, 2008. Ambani, one of the world’s richest men, seems to have a new focus at present— better economics.

The world is her oyster

At 59, this ex-ICICI banker has donned the mantle of India CEO of the New York-headquartered JPMorgan Chase & Company. Clearly, Kalpana Morparia’s mandate is to expand the firm’s footprint in existing businesses of I-banking, transaction banking and asset management. Says Morparia: “It’s a great platform to lead in India.” Her role, however, is not restricted to Indian territory alone as she has a seat in the global decision-making body of the firm. It’s a tough challenge for Morparia. The deal flow has also dried up big time and the valuations in the bourses are touching rock-bottom. Can she manage the risk at a time when all others are using a cautious approach to lending or investing in the market? Watch this space.

Tata’s new team
The almost synchronised changeovers that will soon happen at the Tatas are eerie in their timings. Four companies are likely to see a change at the top—Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Chemicals. This translates into a long list of Tata executives who will hand over the baton. B. Muthuraman at Tata Steel has been with the company since the sixties and is likely to remain part of the group in other capacities.

H.M. Nerurkar, who has been promoted as COO, is the clear choice to succeed him—the only other option being Corus CEO Philippe Varin. In TCS too, there is a clear succession plan emerging, with N. Chandrasekharan the favourite to take over from S. Ramadorai— especially after ‘Paddy’ Padmanabhan moved to Tata Power. It is not so clear in Tata Motors, where Ravi Kant had pipped V. Sumantran to the post of Managing Director in 2005. Sumantran later left to join the Hindujas. Tata Chemicals, however, has announced a change of guard with R. Mukundan set to succeed Homi Khusrokhan as Managing Director.

Contributed by Anand Adhikari, Anusha Subramanian, Shalini S. Dagar, Shamni Pande, Suman Layak and Tejeesh N.S. Behl