MUMBAI: In his New Year message to 7.5 lakh employees,
Tata Group chairman
N Chandrasekaran said the coronavirus
pandemic
has “rewritten the rules”, “offering opportunities for renewal” and “providing a glimpse of the new economy that will emerge from the old”.
“Buried in the stress and trauma of
Covid-19
are opportunities for
renewal
. Pandemics have, in the past, inspired progress in medicine, urban planning, architecture and countless other fields. This one will be the same,” Chandrasekaran said.
Chandrasekaran steered the $106-billion
Tata Group into diagnostic products and digital platforms amid the pandemic. In diagnostic products, the conglomerate has developed technology for detection of Covid genomic sequence. And in digital platforms, it is looking at inorganic growth.
“This moment is akin to walking on a bridge, but it’s a special bridge, because we are not simply waiting to see what is on the other side. Instead, we have a hand in building our destination,” said Chandrasekaran.
Emphasising that the pandemic has rewritten the rules, he said, “This year we learnt that many things once undertaken outside the home can be done equally well inside it. Shopping. Education. Healthcare. Work.”
He added that alongside practical adaptations to lockdown, there has been a shift in priorities: Greater focus on safety and resilience, and a transition from “just in time” toward “just in case”. “Such changes offer a glimpse of the new economy that will emerge from the old”.
Chandrasekaran, who before taking over as Tata Group chairman was the CEO of
TCS, had said on an earlier occasion that his years at the software company shaped him in such a way that his roots are embedded in technology, which made him see the pandemic and its impact on businesses with a positive frame of mind. The chairman had also said he expects the Indian economy to grow at over 11% in FY22 as several indicators have rebounded faster than expected after the initial loss due to Covid-19.
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