Mukesh Bansal Steps Back From Tata Neu’s Daily Operations

SUMMARY

Bansal will take up an advisory basis, while CEO Pratik Pal will be responsible for all business decisions

Differences in approach on how to scale the new internet businesses are said to have played a role in these internal changes

Other senior executives at Tata Digital Prateek Mehta and Sharath Bulusu have also recently left the company

Mukesh Bansal, the president of Tata Digital, has stepped back from his role in the day-to-day operations of Tata Neu, according to an ET report. The former cofounder of fashion etailer Myntra and healthtech CureFit joined Tata Digital as its president in June 2021.

Bansal joined the super app parent as a part of the $75 Mn acquisition deal between Tata Digital and CureFit.

Reports suggest that he has stopped being involved in key aspects of Neu’s primary businesses. He is expected to stay in an advisory role while Pratik Pal, the CEO of Tata Digital, is now responsible for all business decisions at the company.

Tata Digital is not keen on a ‘growth-at-all-cost’ strategy and wants to manage its unit economics simultaneously, the report suggests.

Differences in approach on how to scale the new internet businesses are said to have played a role in these internal changes. In addition, Bansal is considering starting a new venture, although these plans are still in the early stages.

Incidentally, other senior executives at Tata Digital, including Prateek Mehta and Sharath Bulusu, have also recently left the company. Mehta and Bulusu were recruited to the Tata Group by Mukesh Bansal, along with other senior executives from Flipkart, Udaan, Blinkit and other startups.

Tata CLiQ was recently acquired by Tata Digital, and ahead of the merger, the former’s CEO Vikas Purohit resigned from his post, having taken up an offer from an MNC in a non-competing sector to head its India business.

With this, Tata Digital will now be the sole entity responsible for all of the Tata Group’s online shopping ventures, including Tata Neu, 1mg, BigBasket, CLiQ and Croma.

Recently, Tata Digital also increased its authorised share capital from INR 15,000 Cr to INR 20,000 Cr as it looked to raise fresh funds from Tata Sons. The Tata Group also recently invested another INR 1,600 Cr capital into Tata CLiQ parent Tata UniStore.

Tata Digital has already received the approval of its board to raise INR 3,462 Cr in two tranches from Tata Sons, taking the total issued share capital to INR 15,934 Cr. With the fresh funds, it plans to repay its debt, infuse working capital, make investments and more.