Published on April 09, 2026
Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) hosted the eighth Tata Supply Chain Meet at Taj Lands End, Mumbai, bringing together over 70 supply chain management (SCM) experts from 25 Tata group companies for a full day of collaboration, learning and knowledge exchange. The meet served as a strong platform to enable cross-company learning, sharing of best practices, and discussion on future-ready supply chain capabilities.
The event commenced with a welcome address from Deepak Deshpande, Vice President & Head - Customer Experience, Tata Business Excellence Group (TBExG), and Nitin Bengani, Vice President - Strategic Finance, IHCL. In their opening remarks, the speakers emphasised the growing strategic importance of supply chains in the current geopolitical situation, enabling resilience, agility, sustainability, and long-term value creation across Group companies.
A key morning session on group strategic sourcing and synergy was delivered by Razaul Haque, Assistant Vice President - Group Strategic Sourcing, Tata Services. He highlighted how aggregated sourcing, synergy-led contracting, long-term supplier partnerships, and structured governance have delivered sustainable savings and improved value realisation across common procurement categories within the Tata ecosystem.
IHCL’s journey in procurement excellence was showcased by Hariharan N. V., Associate Vice President - Corporate Materials, IHCL, who shared best practices in centralised procurement, e-tendering, vendor governance, digitisation, and sustainability-focused sourcing initiatives that support the company’s diverse hospitality operations.
Technology-led transformation was a central theme of the meet. Vinay Sharma, Partner - Supply Chain Transformation, Global Consulting Practice, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), presented on Agentic AI-enabled supply chains, outlining how intelligent agents can sense disruptions, orchestrate responses, and augment human decision-making across planning, procurement, logistics and execution. This session was complemented by global perspectives from Dr K. Ganesh, Partner and Global Lead - Manufacturing & Supply Chain Solutions, McKinsey & Company, who spoke on Generative AI and Agentic AI as key enablers of future-ready, resilient supply chains.
Operational excellence and logistics innovation
Operational excellence and logistics innovation were showcased through impactful case studies from Group companies and partners.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles shared its Sequential Vehicle Reporting System (SVRS) through Pritish Agrawal, General Manager - Supply Chain, and Mahesh Naik, Deputy General Manager - Supply Chain, demonstrating how disciplined vehicle sequencing and structured material flows have reduced variability, improved VTAT, and significantly minimised production downtime.
A compelling logistics and green solutions case study was jointly presented by Amar Patnaik, Managing Director, TKM Global; Pravin Saraf, Vice President - Railways, TM International Logistics (TMILL); and Shoeb Siddiqui, Control Tower Manager - Material Fulfilment & Industrial Operations, Jaguar Land Rover. The session highlighted TMILL’s private rail operations, green logistics initiatives, and a One Tata crisis-response case study that illustrated how cross-company collaboration helped ensure operational continuity for Jaguar Land Rover amid global disruptions.
The external operating environment was addressed by PwC India, with insights from Ajay Nair, Partner - Supply Chain & Operations Leader; Vishvesh Prabhakar, Partner - Supply Chain; Vaidison Krishnamurty, Global Lead Relationship Partner for the Tata group; and Sanjit Acharya, Executive Director. The panel discussed supply chains in the current geopolitical environment, highlighting risk mitigation, resilience building, and the need to elevate supply chain discussions to the boardroom.
Digital procurement transformation was presented by Prakash Singh, Head - Procurement (Khopoli), Tata Steel, who showcased Tata Steel’s progress in automation, analytics, AI-driven procurement, and the journey towards autonomous sourcing and contracting.
Recognition for translating learnings into business impact
During the meet, Manish Agarwal, Country Head, TKM Global Logistics, was felicitated for implementing sustainability initiatives inspired by Tata SCM Forum learnings. Under his leadership, TKM Global adopted electric and CNG vehicles for local dispatch, eliminated thermocol packaging, implemented batch-wise cargo planning, and launched employee-led green initiatives. These actions have delivered diesel savings of approximately 100 litres per month, reduced CO2 emissions by around 0.52 metric tonnes monthly, eliminated nearly 2 tonnes of plastic waste annually, and strengthened ESG readiness while improving operational efficiency.
Rajesh K. Pandey, Deputy General Manager - Planning & Logistics, Rallis India, was also felicitated for enhancing warehouse efficiency through digital transformation. Inspired by learnings from the seventh Tata SCM Forum at Tata Advanced Systems (TASL), Hyderabad, Rallis implemented an excel macro-based warehouse management system at its Hyderabad facility. The initiative delivered near 100% dispatch accuracy, approximately 30% reduction in dispatch execution timelines, improved traceability, faster order fulfilment, and enhanced reliability during peak seasonal demand, driving direct business performance improvements.
Participant feedback
The eighth Tata Supply Chain Meet was very well received by participants, with strong appreciation for the relevance, depth, and practical applicability of the sessions. The Top-2-Box feedback score stood at an impressive 89%, reflecting high overall satisfaction.
The meet concluded with closing remarks and a vote of thanks by TBExG, reaffirming the Tata group’s commitment to continuous learning, collaboration, and delivering measurable impact through the One Tata approach.