Rakesh Sarna, head of Tata's hotel business, resigns; will leave in September

Rakesh Sarna, the chief executive and managing director of Indian Hotels Company Limited – a part of Tata Group – resigned from his post on Friday, May 26. He has said that he made this decision due to personal reasons.

"The board of directors have taken on record his resignation, and his resignation will be effective from close of business hours on 30 September 2017," the company said in a filing to BSE.

Tata Sons Ltd and IHCL chairman N. Chandrasekaran said that Sarna had agreed to extend until September on the request of the board. "The board respects his decision and has requested him to continue till 30 September 2017 which he has kindly agreed to," LiveMint quoted Chandrasekaran as saying.

Sarna has completed three years in the company. He came on board the Tata Group in August 2014 and is said to be ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry's choice. He is credited with turning around Tata's loss making hospitality business into a profitable venture in two years bringing in profits of about $30 million dollars in 2015-16.

While the resignation has come now, his position in the company was much talked about since Mistry's ouster and it was believed that Sarna would quit sooner than later.

Speaking about his experience of working with the Tata Group, after he made a mark in the industry with his 30-year stint at the Hyatt Hotels Corp, Sarna said in a statement: "It has been an honour to serve the Tata Group and I would like to thank my board members and colleagues for their support during my stint at IHCL."

Though Sarna is credited with turning the business into a profitable venture, his tenure at the Tata Group was also tainted by a sexual harassment complaint. The complaint, made by a former woman employee in 2015, was recently exonerated by an independent panel for probe.