MUMBAI: Tata Group veteran and former Tata Sons director R K Krishna Kumar passed away, on Sunday , in Mumbai suffering a cardiac arrest.
Krishna Kumar felt uncomfortable after taking a shower, and before his doctor Pravin Amin could reach his home, he died. He is survived by his wife, Ratna, son Ajit and grandson Arya
Krishna Kumar was associated with the Tata Group for almost six decades, having joined the group’s investment company Tata Industries fresh out of Presidency college, Chennai, in 1963. He subsequently moved to different Tata companies, including Tata Consumer, Indian Hotels (which runs the Taj chain) and Tata Sons.
He became part of Ratan Tata’s inner circle during the Assam crisis in 1997, when some Tata Consumer employees were held hostage by militant group Ulfa. He had also became the Vice Chairman of Tata Consumer & Indian Hotels, director of Tata Sons and a trustee of Tata Trusts.
The turning point in his career came in 1982, when he became part of the senior management team at Tata Consumer and where he started to have direct interactions with Ratan Tata.
While he retired from the board of Tata entities, he continued to be a trustee of Tata Trusts, the controlling shareholder of Tata Sons. A Padma Shri awardee, Krishna Kumar, among his many achievements that won Tata Group international recognition, is best known for spearheading the 271-mn-pound acquisition of British tea brand Tetley in the year 2000.
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