In a significant development that ends the prolonged speculation about the succession in India's leading corporate house, the Tata group virtually extended the term of chairman Ratan Tata till 2012.The holding company, Tata Sons, decided at a recent board meeting to raise the retirement age of non-executive directors from 70 to 75. The move has thus potentially extended the term of Ratan Tata, who retired as executive chief and started functioning as non-executive chairman since 2002, up to 2012.The option to continue beyond the age of 70 would be with Ratan Tata as per the guidelines approved by the board on retirement.
