GE South Asia CEO Banmali Agrawala to join Tata Sons

Mumbai: General Electric’s South Asia CEO Banmali Agrawala is set to join Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, to head the conglomerate’s realty and infrastructure cluster which covers companies like Tata Power, Tata Realty, Tata Housing and Voltas.

For Agrawala, 54, the appointment will mark his return to the Tata Group, which he left in 2011 after a three-year stint as the executive director of Tata Power. Within the realty and infrastructure cluster, four companies — Tata Power, Tata Housing, Voltas and Tata Projects — are the biggest revenue contributors.

Agrawala is being brought in by Tata Sons to formulate a strategy for the realty and infrastructure businesses which includes consolidation and divestures of non-core assets. A mechanical engineer, Agrawala had also worked with Wartsila and Bajaj Auto.


Agrawala couldn’t be reached for immediate comments.

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran has initiated a process to institutionalise seven business verticals which defines the salt-to-software conglomerate. Besides realty and infrastructure, the other segments are IT & communications, manufacturing (the largest revenue contributor to the $104-billion group), services, financial services, consumer & retail and defence & aerospace.

In the last six months, Tata Sons has brought on board several fresh faces to assist Chandrasekaran to steer the 149-year-old group to the next growth level as well as to make it financially fit and healthy.