India has very promising two-three decades ahead of it: Tata Sons' N Chandrasekaran

Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons

India has very promising two-three decades ahead of it, as opportunities open up with disruptions in digital, supply chain and energy transmission, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons said.

The impact of ongoing geopolitics too is working in favour of India, Chandrasekaran added.

“We have a great opportunity in the world and in India at this time. We have a very exciting two or three decades ahead of us. And the opportunity is enormous because all the disruptions whether it is digital, in the supply chain, in energy transmission, or other impacts due to geopolitics are all working in favour of India. We are a nation with tremendous talent,” Tata Sons Chairman said at the Ascent Conclave 2022.

“It is fair to say that it is going to be India’s decade and India’s few decades. If there is a time when people can dream very big and have a chance of achieving it, I think it is one of those moments,” Chandrasekaran added.

Chandrasekaran took the stage at the conclave to share insights on his learnings from his marathon practices and how they helped build his leadership style.

He also spoke about the ongoing culture of building businesses, especially among start-ups purely based on valuations and not healthy cash flows.

“You can’t build a company for valuations, valuations will come and go. Just because there is euphoria in the market and you get easy money and get higher valuations. Taking that money will not do much good for the company. When money comes success comes, and valuations go up,” he said.

Adding, “You cannot target growth rates if the organisation is not fit. First look at the left side of the accounting statement - the balance sheet, and get it right before starting to look at the right-hand side - the profit and loss account."

According to Chandrasekaran, if a company is not capitalised properly in terms of cash flow and if it doesn’t have the structures and team in place, it can get away by having some short-term performance but that will not be consistent.

“The overall fitness of the company is very important,” he said.