On Wednesday, Ratan Tata died at the age of 86 in a Mumbai hospital. A wave of mourning spread across the country after knowing of his death. Ratan Tata became the chairman of Tata Group in the year 1991 and remained in this position till the year 2012.
During this time Ratan made many records in the business sector. He took the Tata Group to great heights as he made Tata an international brand. Ratan Tata was born on 28 December 1937 in the house of Naval Sooni Tata. It was the year 1962 when he graduated in architecture from Cornell University.
Entry in Tata Industries in 1962
Ratan Tata completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in the year 1975. Ratan Tata’s father Naval Tata was a successful businessman. Ratan Tata’s mother Sooni Tata was a housewife. Ratan Tata entered Tata Industries in 1962. He joined the Tata Group as an assistant. Later in the same year, he did a six-month training at the Jamshedpur plant of Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (now known as Tata Motors).
He was the chairman of the Tata Group from 1991 to 2012. After serving in different companies, in 1971 he was made the director-in-charge of National Radio and Electronics Company. In 1981 he was made the chairman of the group’s other holding company Tata Industries. He worked as the chairman of Tata Group’s holding company Tata Sons from 1991 till his retirement on 28 December 2012.
During this period, he also served as the chairman of major Tata companies including Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels and Tata Teleservices. He was also associated with various organizations in India and abroad. Ratan Tata was also present on the international advisory boards of Mitsubishi Corporation and JPMorgan Chase.
He was also the chairman of Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Allied Trusts, and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Allied Trusts. He was the chairman of the management council of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. He also served on the board of trustees of Cornell University and the University of Southern California. Ratan Tata did not marry throughout his life.
Although there were many times when he came close to getting married, he could not get married due to various reasons. He once admitted that he fell in love with someone while working in Los Angeles. But due to the Indo-China war of 1962, the girl’s parents did not want to send her to India. After this, they never got married.
Ratan Tata is also praised for his philanthropy and social work. He made important contributions in many areas of society. He contributed to the establishment of schools and colleges across the country. He also started many scholarship schemes due to which lakhs of students got benefited. He also contributed in the field of health. He did special work for cancer research, AIDS treatment, and improving the access to health services in rural areas.
When Ratan Tata was completing his higher education at Cornell University in America, he got interested in flying planes. In those days, the facility of flying planes by paying fees had started in America. He also got a chance to fulfill his hobby but he had a problem of money, because then he was not given enough money to pay the fees for flying planes.
After this, he also did jobs to fly planes. During this time, he also worked in a restaurant for some time and also washed people’s utensils. Ratan Tata is also known for his philanthropy. Tata Group created a Tata Scholarship Fund of $28 million at Cornell University to provide financial assistance to graduate students from India. In 2010, Tata Group donated $50 million to build an executive center at Harvard Business School (HBS). In 2014, Tata Group donated Rs 95 crore to IIT-Bombay. Formed Tata Center for Technology and Design (TCTD) to develop engineering principles.
Achievements of Ratan Tata
1. Served as Chairman of Tata Group from 1991-2012.
2. Purchase of Jaguar Land Rover (2008).
3. Purchase of Corus (2007).
4. Increasing the global reach of Tata Steel.
5. Success of Tata Motors.
6. Increasing global reach of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
7. Increase in global brand value of Tata Group. Major awards and honours of Ratan Tata 1. Padma Vibhushan (2008) 2. Padma Bhushan (2000) 3. Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2009) 4. Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Heritage Foundation (2012)
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