That's all from us, but not from Take That (shout out to all those pining for Ratan Tata to be Back For Good)

Well folks, it's been a right old day for the Tata Group, which has probably learned a lot from the events of the last 24 hours. This, however, is what we learned

  • Ratan Tata ain't back for good (see video for that warm nostalgic feel)
  • As of now, Cyrus Mistry isn't going to make like a tailor and sue
  • Tata group companies were all hit on the BSE and NSE, but Tata Steel seems to be the most unstable
  • Theresa May is going to have a have a good chinwag with Ratan Tata when she disembarks on a balmy November day
  • There seems to have been a lot of mistrust and bad blood in the group, which begs the question, what were they thinking when they appointed Mistry in the first place.
  • And finally...YES...Judas Priest do have awesome album covers

4:05 pm IST: Stock markets closed in the red; the BSE Sensex ends half a percent lower at 28,091 while the NSE Nifty closes 18 points down at 8,691.

Top Sensex gainers were Adani Ports (up 9.43 percent, on upbeat results), Dr Reddy's Labs (up 3.59 percent), ICICI Bank (up 1.60 percent) and Axis Bank (up 1.49 percent).

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone reported 61 percent year-on-year basis to Rs 1,091 crore while income rose 20.7 percent to Rs 2,183 crore. Container volumes increased 30 percent YoY.

"Healthy growth in cargo volumes, operational efficiencies and efforts to change the mix of bulk cargo beyond coal has enabled us to report all-round growth in financial numbers," Karan Adani, chief executive officer said in its filing.

"With Make in India scheme of Govt of India likely to take off in the near future, our SEZ monetization is expected to gain momentum. Implementation of GST will help our Logistic arm to expand further. With our port to Hinterland connectivity further improving we would be truly a fully integrated player providing end to end service to our customers. This will result in higher volume and financial growth," he added.

Tata Steel ended 2.26 percent lower at Rs 416.55, TCS was down 1.14 percent to Rs 2,400.15, Tata Motors lost 1.04 percent at Rs 553.30, Voltas gained 1.09 percent to end at Rs 397.75 and Indian Hotels Company (owner of Taj Hotels) dropped 3.16 percent to Rs 125.65.  

3:50pm IST: Don't worry, be happy...the Tata way 

Ratan Tata has told group heads to focus on their business and not worry about "leadership change". That's like telling someone don't worry about the fire under your bed, just lie down and listen to this dude

IN OTHER NEWS: IS claims responsibility for Quetta police academy attack

 

In case you didn't know what British Steel means to the islanders. Here's an iconic description

Judas Priest

3:39pm IST: And it's all Tata Steel at the moment

One of the largest unions representing Tata Steel employees in the UK, Unite, has said it will be looking for reassurances from Ratan Tata, the new interim Chair of Tata Sons.

Unite will be seeking guarantees about their jobs and pensions from Tata's new interim chairman, who needs to act to bring certainty to the steelmaking business along with the promise that Tata will continue to act as a responsible employer. Steelworkers at Tata UK are world class and have been making some of the best steel in the world against a backdrop of continued uncertainty." 

3:29pm IST: More on Tata Steel's predicament

Ramesh Damani, a member of BSE and a prominent investor, has told the Economic Times

"Corus sale will be a matter of contention with the new management. It is a guiding philosophy of Tatas not to dispose, but turn around businesses. 

Shares of Tata Steel, which have surged 60 percent this year, declined as much as 4.2 percent to 408.35 rupees in Mumbai. It was the biggest loser on the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.

 

All you Tata fans out there stop moping, here's something to cheer you up from our intrepid Auto team. The Tata Nexon!

3:20 pm IST: Is this all a mess of Ratan Tata's making?

The Financial Express's Gadfly knows just who to point the wiggly finger of blame at, and he's pulling no punches

Ratan Tata seemed to be nothing less than delighted when a selection committee tasked to find his successor returned from a 15-month global hunt with the idea that Mistry — a member of the search panel as well as the son of a large shareholder — was the best choice. If the 48-year-old executive is now being removed for being out of his depth, the more experienced Ratan Tata deserves some blame for putting him in that position in the first place.

Other business news we just couldn't miss!

The Supreme Court has asked liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya to explain what happened to the $40 million he received as part of a settlement with Diageo. Well now, we're all ears Doc.

We don't know how Cyrus is feeling at the moment, but in case he's reading this, we've got a song for him. Chin up!

  

3:06 pm IST: Tata cos shares continue to slide

Among the Tata Group companies, Tata Steel was the top percentage loser on the broader NSE Nifty, shedding 2.7 percent, while others such as Tata Power, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Motors also dropped between 1 and 2 percent.

3:03pm IST: A battle of visions?

Sanjeev Prasad, of Kotak Institutional Equities, has told the ET Now:

The rest of the Tata Group, the other board members and the Tata Trust which is a principal shareholder of Tata Sons may have a different vision of the group 5-10 years down the line.

2:57 pm IST: The Tata saga could reverberate through the UK (Theresa May take note)

Here's The Guardian's Graham Ruddick:

Tata matters to the UK. It owns Jaguar Land Rover, which employs more than 35,000 people in Britain, Tata Steel (11,000 jobs) and other brands including Tetley Tea. Theresa May is keen to draw up an industrial strategy for the country. One of the key people the prime minister needs to talk to for that is the boss of Tata. In fact, one of the first people Greg Clark met after becoming business secretary was Mistry in Mumbai.

2:53 pm IST: Mistry looking 150 years into the future

Here's a quote from an interview Cyrus Mistry gave to the Tata website. Looks like hope does spring eternal

We had a powerful foundation that had been nurtured over the last fifteen decades, and we now needed to build the capabilities that would allow us to succeed for the next 150 years

2:47 pm IST: Citigroup plays up Mistry's tenure

This note from Citigroup seems to herald just a wee bit of doom

Under Mistry, Tata Group have taken significant steps towards deleveraging and better utilisation of capital over the last few years. His absence going forward may impact the future strategy and thereby may delay the process of deleveraging and RoCE (return on capital employed) improvement at the group levels."

2:38pm: Candidates to replace Mistry are emerging 

Financial Express is rspeculating that Indra Nooyi and Noel Tata have emerged as frontrunners for Tata Group chairman post. Harsh Goenka  is speculating that it may well be Ajay Banga. But keep an eye on Anshuman Jain, former co-CEO of Deutsche Bank. Natarajan Chandrasekaran of TCS is also in the running we're told.

2:36pm: Ratan Tata has written to the company's employees  

The companies must focus on their market position vis-à-vis competition, and not compare themselves to their own past. The drive must be on leadership rather than to follow," he said, addressing Managing Directors and senior leaders of Tata companies. I look forward to working with you as we have worked together in the past. An institution must exceed the people who lead it. I am proud of all of you, and let us continue to build the group together."

Maybe the family should just listen to this and all will be well

 

2:30pm IST: Mistry wanted to 'sell the family jewels'

NdTV is reporting that Ratan Tata has accused Mistry of "selling the family jewels", and wanting to "throw him [Tata] under the bus". It's all getting a bit Game of Thrones, isn't it?

2:24pm IST: Tata Steel, Thyssenkrupp merger may be hit

Bloomberg is quoting CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets stating that Tata Steel's efforts to combine its European steel operations with Thyssenkrupp AG may be delayed after Mistry's removal from Tata Sons.

2:20pm IST: Cyrus Mistry rubbish rumours of him suing Tatas

Former Tata Sons' chairman, Cyrus Mistry has issued a press statement.

Events of the past 24 hours obviously involve an element of sensitivity if not surprise. They need time for being assessed. As and when a public statement becomes necessary, it would be made. While the circumstances are being studied, there is no basis to media speculation about litigation at this stage."

2:20pm IST: Hello everyone and welcome to our live coverage of the Tata Group saga. We'll be moving on with live updates soon, but in case you've been living under a rock and need some backstory then check out the article below this.

Investors on Tuesday reacted to the "corporate coup" at India's largest and oldest business group a day earlier that saw Cyrus Mistry being removed from the helm of Tata Sons, the group's holding company and appointment of Ratan Tata as interim head. 

Tata shares in the 30-scrip index such as TCS, Tata Motors and Tata Steel were trading with losses in the range of 1 to 3 percent at around 12.45 pm. on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Other Tata Group shares in the mid-cap space including Tata Coffee, Tata Global Beverages, Voltas, Rallis India and Indian Hotels were also trading with losses.

In a surprise move, 48-year-old Cyrus Mistry was removed as chairman of Tata Sons on Monday, four years after he was appointed in December 2012. The short statement by Tata Sons did not specify the reasons for his removal but said that he was being replaced by Ratan Tata as the interim chief, who will step down once a successor to Cyrus Misty is finalised within four months, by the search panel.

The decision sparked speculation among experts as to the possible reasons for his exit, with most of them suggesting that his hard-nosed approach to the group's businesses, especially the non-profitable ones, did not go down well with investors.

They raised some of the controversies that kept the Tata Group in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, such as asset sale in Tata Steel Europe and the $1.17 billion dispute with Japanese telecom firm Docomo.

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya to explain what happened to the $40 million he received as part of a settlement with Diageo.