The Rs 45,000 crore (Rs 450 billion) Tata group's focus on branded products and services appears to be paying off.

For the current fiscal, the group expects to see 58 per cent of profits coming from its brands-led businesses compared with 41 per cent in 1999-2000.

These brands are expected to contribute 52 per cent to the group's turnover as against 34 per cent in 1999-2000.

The brands-led businesses includes services such as communication, hospitality, beverages and other branded products from the group portfolio.

Most of the group's products are under the Tata umbrella like Tata Indica, Tata Indigo, Tata Indicom, Tata Tea, Tata Salt among others.

Non-Tata brands include Titan, Tetley, Westside, Tanishq and Voltas.

The Tata brand was valued at over Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) four years ago. On the other hand, commodity business would contribute 48 per cent to group turnover as against 59 per cent in 1999-2000. In 1991-92, 81 per cent of sales was from commodities.

Similarly, the commodity business is expected to contribute 42 per cent to group profits in 2002-03.

Its contribution to profits was around 79 per cent  in 1991-92. The group, will invest Rs 250-300 crore (Rs billion) on brand development initiatives over the next five years.

The initiative involves a multi-pronged strategy to promote the Tata brand and increase the turnover from the brand-led business quite substantially.

Tata Sons is the principle investment holding company of the Tata group and is the proprietor of the Tata trademark which is licensed to the Tata companies for their use under the Tata Brand Equity and Business Promotion Scheme.

A Tata appellation-carrying company, such as Tata Steel, pays 2.5 per cent of its revenues to the fund, and another without it, such as Voltas, pays 0.01 per cent.