NEW DELHI--Tata Sons, which oversees the companies in India's giant Tata conglomerate, has named Mukund Rajan to a newly-created global 'brand custodian' role.

An 18-year Tata veteran, Rajan takes on a number of key public relations responsibilities. As chief ethics officer, he will handle all CSR activities, and as brand custodian and group spokesperson he is charged with managing all communications and brand related activities for the group in India and overseas.

His appointment is the first major one by Cyrus Mistry, who became chairman of the group upon Ratan Tata's retirement last year.

Two years ago, Tata's key PR firm Vaishnavi infamously shut down after becoming embroiled in the country's telecoms bribery scandal. Tata now works with Rediffusion/Edelman.

Most recently, Rajan was head of private equity advisory at Tata Capital and managing partner of the advisory team of the Tata Opportunities Fund. He has also previously served as MD of Tata Teleservices, and as VP of Tata Sons' chairman’s office.

Rajan's background does not appear to include any public relations experience. Previously, Tata's communications has been led at a company level within the conglomerate.