Will Ratan Tata’s big stick hurt TCS UK?

(By Anthony Miller – Wednesday, 25th March 2009 2:30 pm). Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata’s veiled warning to cut more UK jobs at Jaguar Land Rover if Tata Motors doesn’t get Government loan assistance (see Sky News India article here) does not sound like an especially constructive way to engage with the UK Government. Tata is quoted as saying, "If funds are not available a company will not be able to run so layoffs will take place, redundancies will take place". The message seems pretty clear, though as ever, it’s worth reading the rest of the article to see the context.

This statement comes at a crucial time for India-based IT services companies – none bigger in the UK than Tata’s own TCS – which are desperately vying against each other to get a slice of the Government IT pie, the only segment of the UK IT market still growing strongly. I really can’t see how our Government will feel terribly well disposed to awarding IT services business to TCS when the chairman of its parent company is standing over it wielding a big stick!