Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata group, hopes to find the successor to Ratan N Tata by March 2011.

A day after Tata Sons announced his retirement by the end of December 2012, Ratan N Tata made it clear that the five-member committee formed to find his successor would be working rigorously in the next six to seven months to find a suitable candidate to be the chairman of Tata group.

He said this on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of a group company -- Indian Hotels -- in Mumbai.

RK Krishnakumar, a Tata Sons director and vice-chairman of Indian Hotels, said, “We will be finalising the suitable candidate by February-March next year.”

He said the successor would join the company in April 2011.

“The rationale behind selecting the candidate by February-March next year is because he gets enough time to work along with Tata and understand how he functions till his retirement by December 2012. We want a smooth transition and change of leadership,” Krishnakumar said.

Krishnakumar said the successor, Indian or foreign, would be given time to understand the group.

Tata Sons is expected to announce the names of the members of the selection committee, including the external member, on Friday, he said.

On Wednesday, Tata Sons said the committee was in the process of formulating the criteria for identifying the most suitable candidate taking into account the global nature and complexity of the group’s business.

The committee would consider suitable persons from within Tata companies, other professionals in India as well as persons overseas with global experience, Tata Sons had said in the statement.

The group would require someone with experience and exposure to direct its growth amid the challenges of the global economy.

rupeshjanve@mydigitalfc.com