Tatas eye automotives, minerals in South America

The Tata group is scouting for opportunities in South America in the automotive and the mineral sectors. Syamal Gupta, director of Tata Sons and chairman of Tata International, said the group was looking at expanding presence in the South American market beyond its exposure in the information technology space through Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

The market was very big and opportunities were plenty across sectors, he added. TCS, it may be noted, has a global development centre in the region.

Gupta said the group was exploring options in the traditional areas of operation beyond IT such as automotives and minerals.

Tata International had already set up an office in Uruguay and was on the lookout for various avenues for the group. The move was in sync with the group's vision of focusing on the global markets.

Most of the group's international operations and opportunities were initially identified by Tata International. However, some of the group companies, Gupta pointed out, were now directly pursuing global opportunities, as Tata International's footprint across geographies had been limited.

He said, besides South America, the other markets being explored were south-east Asia, Africa and China. In Africa, the group evinced interest in automotives, hospitality, telecom, power and minerals.

Gupta said Indian Hotels currently had one hotel in Lusaka and was looking at setting up more. The African market, he said, was an important market for India, and the relationship between the two countries was mutually beneficial. "

The scale of its (Africa's) needs is suitable for India and it is looking at India for collaboration in the areas of education, training, health and hygiene," he said.

Tata Steel's ferro chrome project in South Africa was also expected to start shortly, Gupta said, adding the company was awaiting some clearances and work would start once they came through.

He said Tata Power too was scouting for opportunities in Africa. Another prospective sector was telecommunications, which could be tapped through Videsh Sanchar Nigam, he said.