Known to be the one of the trusted lieutenants of Ratan Tata, R Venkataraman has joined Reliance Industries (RIL) chief Mukesh Ambani's office after quitting Tata Trusts in February this year. Venkataraman’s resignation came after the income tax department on February 6 withdrew a longstanding tax exemption to Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, citing the Rs 2.66 crore compensation paid to him as one of the department’s primary concerns.
R Venkataraman joins Reliance Industries
According to Timesnownews.com, Venkataraman joined RIL on Thursday. He will assist in health and education initiatives of RIL's social programmes. The Reliance Industries and Tata Trusts have been collaborating in social and other areas in recent years, though they had restricted the recruitment of talent from each other and didn't have much business alliances.
In the financial year 2017-18, Reliance Industries had spent over Rs 700 crore on social initiatives which were carried under Reliance Foundation. The industry pundits are pointing that the expertise of Venkataraman will help the Reliance Industries to boost its public-spirited activities.
Venkataramanan and Tata Trusts
Venkataramanan has had a long association with the Tata Trusts and is considered very close to Tata Group's chairman emeritus Ratan Tata. His name had also featured in the CBI probe against the Tata group entity Air Asia, where he was a director. Venkataramanan’s resignation comes after the income tax department on February 6 withdrew a longstanding tax exemption to Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, citing the Rs 2.66 crore compensation paid to him as one of the department’s primary concerns.
Also, in May 2018, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against Venkataramanan and other executives at low-cost airline AirAsia India, which is majority owned by the Tata Group, for allegedly trying to bribe government officials to manipulate local civil aviation policies that would give the airline a competitive advantage.
Venkataramanan continued to enjoy Tata Group’s support through the AirAsia imbroglio. For several years, he was executive assistant to Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Tata Group.
