'Make in India' promises to reignite growth: Cyrus Mistry

Seeing opportunities in a challenging environment, Tata group Chairman Cyrus Mistry today said the Modi government's 'Make in India' campaign holds the "promise of re-igniting growth in the years to come".

In his New Year message to the employees of the over USD 100 billion Tata group, Mistry also stressed upon the need for firms of the conglomerate to keep pace with fast evolving technologies and develop a technology roadmap to effectively serve the evolving customer needs in the new age.

"Amidst a complex and unpredictable geopolitical environment, we find that new opportunities have emerged, but equally, several challenges persists. In India, recent policy measure and strategic direction defined by the government, especially its ambitious 'Make in India' campaign, hold the promise of re-igniting growth in the years to come," he said.

Reflecting on the year that has gone by, Mistry said: "Globally, major markets seem to be on two different growth tracks. Some countries, such as the US and the UK, continue to show signs of recovery and growth.

"On the other hand, the large economies of China and Europe fell short of growth expectations. This has led to a fall in global commodity markets, which offers both challenges and opportunities."

Highlighting the need for the group firms to be prepared to serve customers in a fast changing environment driven by technological developments, he said: "The customers and the markets we know are evolving. Today, emerging technologies in the digital and physical space are transforming business at a pace never seen before.

"We must deepen our understanding in several areas such as digitisation and big data analytics, and develop an innovation and technology roadmap to effectively serve evolving customer needs."

In his letter to nearly 5.82 lakh employees, Mistry said that "keeping with our pioneering spirit that is core to the group, we look to continue to invest in R&D and in the development of new technologies, which will become an integral part of our companies' strategies".

He also said it was "critically important" for the group firms "to collaborate and learn, not only from each other, but also from the global best" in today's challenging economic and competitive environment that has put relentless pressure on margins.

Reiterating the Tata group's Vision 2025 targets, Mistry said in the next 10 years "25 per cent of the world's population will experience the Tata commitment to improving the life of customers and communities. As a result, Tata will be among the 25 most admired corporate and employer brands globally, with a market capitalisation comparable to the 25 most valuable companies in the world."

In order to achieve this "shared vision" he said: "Each Tata company will need to crystallise its strategy, with customer at its core."

Mistry said: "In 2014, the Tata brand was rated the 34th most valued brand. Our aggregate market capitalisation, comparable to that of the top 60 global firms, reflects the high expectations that financial stakeholders have of us."

Highlighting the need for women empowerment, he said: "In 2014, we launched Tata lead, an important group exercise to strengthen our diversity and inclusiveness. Through this, we hope to significantly increase the number of women leaders in our group in the years ahead."

He pointed to the "valuable contribution made by 1,40,000 of our women colleagues, several of whom are leaders in their own areas" across the globe.

Asking the employees to take up volunteering initiatives, Mistry said: "I would be proud to see a majority of us volunteering and actively serving our communities in the year ahead."

In 2014, Tata group had launched Tata Engage, a group volunteering programme that already has participation of over 55,000 employees of the group from over 100 companies spread across 65 countries.