Published on December 18, 2023
On December 8, 2023, Tata Motors hosted the Tata Group Treasury Forum meeting at Bombay House, Mumbai. The event witnessed a congregation of 65 Treasury Heads and senior Treasury practitioners from 25 companies. In this day-long event, the participants could gain insights from Tata Sons, Tata Motors, Tata International, ICICI Securities, JP Morgan Case & Co., and Morgan Stanley.
The event started with an address by Sanjeev Singh, Head, Tata Business Excellence Group (TBExG). He showcased highlights of the Tata Best Practices Programme and how it can be best leveraged by Treasury practitioners. Sucharita Chowdhary, Senior Vice President, Tata Sons, talked about group priorities such as AI/ML, digital, sustainability, the opportunity to create advanced manufacturing facilities in India, electric vehicles and upcoming battery manufacturing facilities, semiconductors, mobile assembly, the manufacture of indigenous 5G stacks, and passion for Air India.
Thereafter, Namrata Divekar, Senior General Manager, Treasury & Investor Relations, Tata Motors, and her team showcased their learnings on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). She highlighted how the approach to M&A at Tata Motors is aligned with the overall Tata Group philosophy to simplify, synergise, and scale and has therefore taken steps to rationalise its capital structure, subsidy the passenger vehicle business, set up the new electric vehicle business, and divest its stake in Tata Technologies. She walked the group through several business cases to demonstrate the learnings and takeaways from various projects.
Ms Divekar also discussed the deleveraging journey at Tata Motors, which is being driven in a very focused manner by strong internal cash flows and cash generated through accretive corporate actions.
Ruchira Phanesar and Vishal Tanedel, Corporate Finance & Treasury, Tata International, shared their journey in treasury analytics. They showcased the company’s treasury automation tool, addressing a defined problem statement. The presentation detailed project steps, emphasising centralised borrowing reporting, analytical report generation for improved decision-making, and central-level monitoring of covenant compliance. The session concluded with a live demonstration of the system, featuring visual representations of the tool’s interface.
Thereafter, Binay Singh, Executive Director, Morgan Stanley, shared auto sector insights, and Manoj Menon, Head Research, ICICI Securities presented his perspectives on the consumer sector. Sajjid Chinoy, MD and Chief Economist, JP Morgan Chase & Co., presented on the economic update and impact of bond inclusion. Kasturi Mallik, Manager, Tata Starbucks, was felicitated by TBExG for the implementation of learnings on pricing and cash management from Tata companies.
Participants Speak
The Tata Group Treasury Forum is a unique and one-of-a-kind initiative. The sheer diversity of sectors that the group operates in, and the different size and scale of various companies make for an interesting exchange of ideas, transactions, products, and structures in the Treasury domain. The enthusiasm, willingness to share, and openness with which everyone participates is very encouraging. Thank you, TBExG, for organising this.
— Reshma Chheda, VP & Head Treasury, Tata Realty and Infrastructure LimitedTBExG is doing a wonderful job organising this session, which brings the entire Tata group treasury together. This has helped in the continuous exchange of ideas within the group and enabled group companies to get the best possible solution in the industry.
— Vinay Bhutra, Head of Treasury, Titan Company