<div>At the TCS’s annual general meeting on 28 June, the big light was on Cyrus Mistry, the new chairman of Tata Sons, who made his debut at this AGM. And the first without Ratan Tata. He impressed the shareholders with his speech (and smiling all along), and also managed to evade some contentious questions. A shareholder said after the meeting that Ratan Tata would have answered the some of the questions like that on TCS’s challenges after N.R. Narayana Murthy's return to Infosys. One of the shareholders remarked 'Tata is Tata', in line with Ratan Tata's famous quote after launching Nano “A promise is a promise”.<br /><br />TCS AGM was a confident boosting affair for Mistry. Here's why:<br />1) The TCS numbers were one of the best in the industry. <br />2) Mistry has managed to build a mutually respectful rapport with the top management of the company, and <br />3) There is further potential for him to play a role in TCS’s challenging future, whether in cost discipline or building a diversified and relevant portfolio. <br /><br />Though Mistry missed the charisma of Tata, everything fell in favour of the 44-year-old at the shareholders meet held in Mumbai. <br /><br />Some shareholders say that it may not be the same with the AGMs of other group companies like Tata Steel and Tata Motors. Tata Steel struggles with the sinking performance of its European division and Tata Motors loses its plot in the home-land. Mistry will have to deal with the worries of the respective shareholders. <br /><br />“Tata knows to manage the scene. And the shareholders have faith in him,” says a shareholder. Surely, building the faith would be a bigger challenge for Mistry at the initial phase of his stint.</div><div> </div><div>nevin (dot) john (at) abp (dot) in</div>
