Known to be a significant contributor in several acquisitions of the Tata Group, Krishnakumar helped facilitate the £ 271 million buy-out of Tetley in 2000, thereby making Tata Global Beverages the second largest tea company in the world.
Krishnakumar was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award by the Indian government in 2009, for his contributions to Indian Trade and industry.
Krishnakumar had joined Tata Administrative Services in 1963. In 1965, he was transferred to Tata Global Beverages, then known as Tata Finlay, and worked through the re-branding of the company as Tata Tea, to become the vice president of South India Plantations in 1982.
Kumar headed the Indian Hotels Company from 1997 to 2002, till his appointment to Tata Sons, the holding company of the Group, as a member of the board of directors. A year later, he retired from the Board and went back to Indian Hotels Company as its vice chairman and the managing director, and stayed on the job till 2007.
