Ratan Tata, retiring soon as chairman of sprawling Tata conglomerate, is known for making

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sketches of the company's next car model and fussing over details of a hotel's design.

Whoever succeeds him in country's highest-profile job is likely to be less caught up in details and more focused on taming an unwieldy $67 billion business that earns pedestrian returns and is saddled with debt after an acquisition spree.

The search for a successor to head the enterprise, founded by 73-year-old Ratan Tata's great-grandfather in 1868, has not gone entirely as planned. Last August, Ratan Tata, who has been at the helm for 20 years, had predicted it would announce a successor by March this year.

No announcement is imminent, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told media earlier this week.

The delay underscores the challenges facing the group, which for the first time in its 143-year history is looking outside the family, and the companies, to fill the top spot.

Tata's new boss must manage a group that was founded as a textile company, but now spans everything from cars and consultancy to telecoms and tea, and embodies India's global ambitions. Two-thirds of Tata's revenue is generated abroad.

Succession is an increasingly important risk factor for investors in corporate India, dominated by family dynasties.

"It has been tough to find someone who is a natural fit for the role," said the person with direct knowledge of the matter, declining to be identified because details about the search are not public. "We will probably change what we are looking for," the person said, referring to the search criteria.

Some of the top names in India's formidable executive diaspora have been in the mix at various stages in the process.

The search committee approached PepsiCo Chief Executive Indra Nooyi, an Indian-born American, who declined to enter the race for personal reasons, two sources said.

Arun Sarin, former CEO of British telecoms giant Vodafone and now a California-based senior adviser at private equity firm KKR, was also considered, the source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

One potential front-runner yet to win the full support of the five-member search panel is Ratan Tata's half-brother, 54-year-old Noel Tata, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Noel Tata is the son-in-law of Pallonji Mistry, the single largest shareholder in group holding company Tata Sons. He was recently moved into the top spot at the group's international operations in a move seen aimed at grooming him for the top job.

But Ratan Tata hinted in an interview with The Times of London that Noel was not ready for the role.

"I think if he is to run this he should have greater exposure than he has had. Partly his not having it has been his own choice," he was quoted as saying.

A spokesman for Tata Sons said the panel had interviewed internal and external candidates. Seven candidates remain on the list, including some from within Tata, the source with direct knowledge of the matter said.