MAM
Havas Gurgaon appoints Manas Lahiri as GM
MUMBAI: Havas Group India has announced the appointment of Manas Lahiri as general manager of Havas Gurgaon. Lahiri's mandate includes bringing in new business and managing overall operations of the Delhi branch, leveraging Havas Group’s integrated capabilities.
With over 16 years of experience in advertising, Lahiri has worked with agencies like Contract Advertising, McCann, Ogilvy & Mather and Creativeland Asia. Working across sectors which include IT, telecom, FMCG and auto, he has managed renowned brands like General Motors, Google, Dabur Samsung, Motorola, Lenovo, Amazon, Shell, Acer, NIIT, and Reliance.
Havas Group India group CEO Rana Barua said, “For Havas India Advertising operations in North, we needed a driven and capable leader who is not only aligned with our vision of exponential growth in terms of winning new clients, attracting versatile talent, and demonstrating our integrated strength but is equally comfortable leading a strong Havas team and our partnership with Reckitt Benckiser. In Manas, we have the perfect leader who will help me drive both mandates and make our operations stronger, more relevant both externally and internally.”
“I am very excited to be part of the Havas India team. The concept of Better Together truly comes to life here with our various offerings from Havas and our partnering companies from Vivendi Group. We now need to strengthen our communication solutions to local and global clients. My focus will be on driving on aggressive business growth, creating exciting work for our clients and building a team that lives up to Havas’s global standards of creativity," added Lahiri.
Brands
Tata Sons defers decision on chairman N Chandrasekaran’s third term
Term runs till 2027, but board differences are stalling extension talks
MUMBAI: Tata Sons has deferred a decision on whether to extend the tenure of its chairman, N Chandrasekaran, injecting fresh uncertainty into the leadership timeline of India’s largest conglomerate.
The board had last year cleared a third executive term for Chandrasekaran running until February 2027, when he turned 65. However, deliberations on any further extension were put on hold this week after differences emerged during a board meeting, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The pause underscores internal strains as the group pushes through an aggressive investment cycle while grappling with uneven financial returns. The Economic Times reported that Chandrasekaran himself asked for discussions on his reappointment to be deferred after some directors raised concerns about mounting losses at several newer businesses.
Those concerns were led by Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata, the principal shareholder of Tata Sons. Other board members countered that losses were expected in early-stage, capital-intensive ventures designed to secure the group’s long-term position.
Since taking charge in 2017, following the ouster of Cyrus Mistry, Chandrasekaran has driven a phase of expansion and consolidation. Over the past five years, the tata group has nearly doubled revenue and more than tripled net profit and market capitalisation, while committing about Rs 5.5 lakh crore to investments aimed at making the conglomerate “future fit”, according to its latest annual report.
Recent numbers, however, present a more mixed picture. Tata Sons reported a 24 per cent rise in revenue to Rs 5.92 lakh crore in fiscal 2025, while net profit fell 17 per cent to Rs 28,898 crore.
In its annual report, the company said the year opened with expectations of macroeconomic stability and easing inflation. That optimism faded as uncertainty over global trade policy intensified, complicating the operating environment.
For now, the question of leadership continuity at the apex of the Tata Group remains unresolved and closely watched by investors assessing the cost and conviction behind the conglomerate’s long-term bets.
