R. Gopalakrishnan is executive director of Tata Sons,
chairman of Rallis India and vice-chairman of Tata Chemicals.
He is a director of several Tata Group companies such
as Tata Motors, Tata Power and Tata Internet Services.
He also serves on the board of two non-Tata companies,
ICI and Castrol India.
A key member of the Tata Group Executive Office, Mr
Gopalakrishnan plays a vital role in providing direction
and impetus to the Group's forays into potentially viable
areas of the new economy.
Mr Gopalakrishnan joined Hindustan Lever (HLL) as a
management trainee in 1967. In 1987, he joined HLL's
management committee as executive director of exports.
In 1991, he was appointed chairman of Unilever Arabia,
based in Jeddah, to establish and manage Unilever's
consumer products business in Arab countries. On his
return to India in 1995, he was appointed managing director
of Brooke Bond Lipton. After the company's merger with
HLL, he was designated vice chairman of Hindustan Lever.
After 31 years with HLL, Mr Gopalakrishnan joined Tata
Sons in August, 1998.
A graduate in physics from Calcutta University, Mr Gopalakrishnan
also has a degree in engineering from the Indian Institute
of Technology, Kharagpur.
