Tata Motors, India's largest automobile company, has appointed R A Mashelkar as an independent non-executive director of the company.Mashelkar is currently holding presidentships of Indian National Science Academy (INSA), National Innovation Foundation, Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK and Global Research Alliance.Prior to this he served as the director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for over eleven years.Mashelkar has been propagating a culture of innovation and balanced intellectual property rights regime for over the last decade.He was also a member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and also of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet set up by successive governments. The President of India honoured Mashelkar with Padmashri (1991) and with Padmabhushan (2000).Earlier in March this year, Mashelkar indicated that of all the companies waiting to get him on board, he was more inclined to join Reliance Industries or Tata Motors. Reliance reportedly had got an approval from its board to appoint Mashelkar as an independent director on the board.
