Tata replaces Cyrus Mistry as chairman with Ratan Tata

The board of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, has unexpectedly replaced Cyrus Mistry as chairman.

Ratan Tata has been named as interim chairman and a selection committee has been set up to find a permanent replacement.

Mr Mistry has led the company since late December 2012.

He was the first chairman to be appointed from outside the family.

No details were given by the company as to why the board had decided to make the change.

The selection committee members are Ratan Tata, Venu Srinivasan, Amit Chandra, Ronen Sen and Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya.

The committee will complete the selection process in four months.

Tata Sons owns Jaguar Land Rover, as well as Tetley Tea. It is one of India's oldest conglomerates and is made up of more than 100 companies, including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power and the IT giant, Tata Consultancy Services.