Published on August 26, 2026
Tata Business Excellence Group (TBExG), under the Tata Supply Chain Management Forum (TSCMF), successfully hosted the inaugural Procurement Challenges Roundtable on August 10, 2026, at the Tata Management Training Centre (TMTC), in Pune. The event brought together over 25 Supply Chain and Procurement leaders from 16 Tata Group companies to collaborate, exchange best practices, and address common procurement challenges.
The roundtable was initiated based on insights from a pre-event survey conducted across Tata Chemicals, Tata Steel, Tata AutoComp, Tata Communications, Infiniti Retail, Indian Hotels, Tata Projects, Titan Jewellery Division, and other Tata companies. The survey revealed significant alignment in procurement challenges across organisations, highlighting opportunities for collective learning and solution sharing.
Designed as a platform for cross-company collaboration, the roundtable aimed to leverage the Tata Group's collective expertise to accelerate the adoption of proven practices, enhance procurement effectiveness, and drive business impact. The strong correlation between survey findings and participants' experiences reinforced the need for a collaborative forum focused on practical implementation.
In his welcome address, Sanjeev Singh, Head, TBExG, emphasised the importance of harnessing the Tata Group's collective knowledge and experience to build a procurement ecosystem that is resilient, sustainable, digitally enabled, and aligned with future business needs.
Participants engaged in discussions around five key themes identified through the survey:
- Cost volatility, inflation and price uncertainty
- Procurement cycle time and process inefficiencies
- Sourcing complexity
- Vendor management and onboarding
- Digital and AI adoption in procurement
Working in cross-company groups, participants shared challenges, discussed emerging risks, and explored practical solutions. Key topics included supplier dependency, procurement automation, analytics-driven decision-making, supplier development, inventory optimisation, and the growing role of digital and AI-enabled procurement practices.
A key outcome of the roundtable was the identification of actionable solutions and replicable best practices that can be scaled across Tata companies. The discussions demonstrated how shared challenges can be transformed into opportunities for innovation, capability building, and measurable business impact while strengthening benchmarking and peer learning across the Group.
In his closing remarks, Vinod Kumar, VP, TBExG, highlighted that the Tata Group's greatest strengths lie in its people, knowledge, technology, and experience. He reaffirmed the importance of collaborative forums in accelerating innovation, enabling faster adoption of best practices, and advancing business excellence.
The roundtable received an encouraging Top 2 Box feedback score of 80%, reflecting strong participant satisfaction and the relevance of the discussions. Participants particularly valued the opportunity to learn from peers across industries and engage in meaningful, solution-oriented conversations.
The session was facilitated by Devraj Chattaraj, GM, TBExG, who encouraged open dialogue and active participation among procurement professionals from diverse Tata businesses.
Reflecting on the experience, Pooja Verma, Senior Manager Procurement, Air India Limited, shared:
“Thanks to the entire TBExG team for putting together such a thoughtful and insightful roundtable discussion. It was a great platform to exchange perspectives, learn from diverse industry experiences, and discuss practical approaches to some of the key procurement challenges we face today.”
Similarly, Sonik Sourabh, Senior Manager, Tata 1mg, remarked:
“Really enjoyed being part of this insightful roundtable hosted by the TBExG team at TMTC. The conversations brought together diverse perspectives and practical insights into navigating the changing procurement landscape. Thank you to everyone who made the discussion so engaging and worthwhile.”
The success of this inaugural roundtable highlights the value of cross-company collaboration in addressing shared procurement challenges and accelerating excellence across the Tata Group. The success of this first roundtable demonstrates the immense value that emerges when Tata companies come together to learn, collaborate, and co-create solutions. We encourage procurement leaders and practitioners across the Group to join future editions of the Procurement Challenges Roundtable, contribute their experiences, and be part of a growing community dedicated to shaping the future of procurement excellence. Together, we can transform shared challenges into shared success and unlock new opportunities for innovation, resilience, and sustainable business impact.
Together, by sharing knowledge, scaling proven practices, and learning from one another, the Tata Group can transform common challenges into collective opportunities for sustainable growth and business excellence.