Tata, the Indian group that owns Jaguar Land Rover and Corus in Britain, has begun a global search for a successor to Ratan Tata, the chairman of the sprawling conglomerate.

"We have some outside consultants and a formal search process is on. There are no constraints," Mr Tata, 71, who has led the group for nearly two decades, told The Wall Street Journal.
He added that the new boss could be chosen from within the 141-year-old business empire, which has a wide range of interests, from IT to tea, or be an external appointment.

All but one of the past chairmen have been from the founding Tata family, but no family candidate has yet come to the fore. Mr Tata is the great grandson of the group founder Jamsetji Tata. He has held the position since 1991, the year in which India's economy was liberated from the "license Raj", a move that heralded a period of rapid growth for both India and Tata.