TATA

Tata

History

Tata, family of pioneer Indian industrialists and philanthropists. The founder of the Tata business empire was Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (1839-1904). Born in Navsari, into a Parsi family, Jamsetji studied at Elphinstone College in Mumbai before entering his father’s business as a general merchant trading with the East. He soon proved highly successful, setting up a branch in Shanghai and steering the family through the speculation and collapse of cotton prices that arose due to the American Civil War.

Jamsetji traveled widely and introduced sound business principles which he believed to be the cornerstone of his success. His key concerns were to utilize modern technology, and to ensure good working conditions and welfare for his employees. These principles could clearly be seen in his first major venture, the establishment of the Empress Mills in 1877 at Nāgpur. In 1886 he founded the Svadeshi Mills Company—the name of which indicated his sympathies with a nationalist movement of the day—competing directly with British firms in the manufacture of fine cotton. His iron and steel works at Sakchi, around which he built houses, schools, and a hospital for the workers, expanded from a village into the current industrial town of Jamshedpur. Other projects included the founding of the famous Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, and the beginning of work on a major hydroelectric project in the Western Ghats mountain range.

Jamsetji was also concerned with the development of Mumbai, and India as a whole, and hoped, through improving educational and research facilities, to provide the skilled workforce needed for an emerging modern, industrialized nation. He founded a number of educational institutions, but his efforts to form an Indian university as a center of excellence for science did not reach fruition until after his death when, in 1909, the Indian Institute of Science was established in Bangalore. It remains an outstanding research center.

Jamsetji’s achievements were built upon by his sons Sir Dorabji Jamsetji Tata (1859-1932) and Sir Ratan Tata (1871-1918), who completed the hydroelectric project. They also brought the original companies under the name of Tata Sons and Company, and set up branches of their business in London, Paris, New York, Shanghai, and Kobe. The Tata Trust has provided funds for hospitals and research establishments, including the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research. Tata Airlines was founded in 1932, being renamed Air India in 1946, and was taken over by the government as India’s national airline in 1953. The Tata empire remains one of India’s largest business groups. From 1938 to 1993, it was chaired by Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (1904-1993), under whom the business continued to expand and diversify. On the death of J.R.D. Tata, the chairmanship passed to Ratan Naval Tata.

A saga of vision, commitment and fortitude

As much an institution as it is a business conglomerate, the Tata Group is unique in more ways than one. Established by Jamsetji Tata in the second half of the 19th century, the Group has grown into one of India's biggest and most respected business organisations, thanks in no small part to its entrepreneurial vision, its commitment to ideals that put people before profits, and its fortitude in the face of adversity.

The Tata titans

There is a difference between making money for oneself and creating wealth for others. This is the story of a business house that has created wealth for a nation. It is a story of struggle, anxiety, adventure and achievement. This is the story of our pioneers.

Jamsetji Tata: The founder of the Tata Group began with a textile mill in central India in the 1870s. His powerful vision inspired the steel and power industries in the country, set the foundation for technical education, and helped India leapfrog from backwardness to the ranks of industrialised nations.

Sir Dorab Tata: Through his endeavours in setting up Tata Steel and Tata Power, this elder son of Jamsetji Tata was instrumental in transforming his father's grand vision into reality. It was also under his leadership that the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, the premier charitable endowment of the Tatas, was created, propelling the Tata tradition of philanthropy.

Sir Ratan Tata: Jamsetji Tata's younger son had a personality that reflected his sensitivity to the struggles of ordinary people and his desire to utilise his considerable wealth to enhance the quality of public life. A philanthropist all his life, he created a trust fund for "the advancement of learning and for the relief of human suffering and other works of public utility". The Sir Ratan Tata Trust is today the second largest of the Tata trusts.

JRD Tata: The late chairman of the Tata Group pioneered civil aviation on the subcontinent in 1932 by launching the airline now known as Air India. That was the first of many path-breaking achievements that JRD, who guided the destiny of the Group for more than half a century, came to be remembered for.

Naval Tata: Naval Tata's myriad contributions in the fields of business, sports administration and labour relations symbolised all that is best in the Tata spirit of giving back to society and the communities in which its enterprises grow.

Ratan N. Tata

Heading the Tata Group since 1991, Ratan N Tata is the Chairman of Tata Sons, holding company of the Tata Group, and major Group companies including, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels, Tata Teleservices and Tata AutoComp. He is also Chairman of two of the largest private sector promoted philanthropic trusts in India. During his tenure, the Group has further expanded its global reach, with its revenues growing over sixfold to Rs 97,000 crore ($21.9 billion).

Mr Tata joined the Tata Group in December 1962. After serving in various companies, he was appointed the Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (Nelco) in 1971. In 1981, he was named Chairman of Tata Industries, the Group's other holding company, where he was responsible for transforming it into the Group's strategy think-tank and a promoter of new ventures in high-technology businesses.

He is associated with various organisations in India and abroad in varying capacities, some of which are:

• Chairman, government of India's Investment Commission
• Member, Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry
• Member, National Hydrogen Energy Board
• Member, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council
• Serving on the International Investment Council set up by the president of the Republic of South Africa
• Serving the International Business Advisory Council of the British government to advise the chancellor of the exchequer
• Member, International Advisory Council of Singapore's Economic Development Board
• Member, Asia-Pacific Advisory Committee to the board of directors of the New York Stock Exchange
• Member, international advisory boards of the Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group and JP Morgan Chase
• President, court of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
• Chairman, council of management, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
• Member, board of trustees of the Rand Corporation, Cornell University and University of Southern California, and the Foundation Board of the Ohio State University
• Chair, advisory board of RAND's Center for Asia Pacific Policy
• Member, Global Business Council on HIV / AIDS and the programme board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS initiative

Mr Tata received a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture from Cornell University in 1962. He worked briefly with Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles, California, before returning to India in late 1962. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1975.

The government of India honoured Mr Tata with one of its highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan, on Republic Day, January 26, 2000. He has also been conferred an honorary doctorate in business administration by the Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate in technology by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, and an honorary doctorate in science by the University of Warwick.

Independece Day message from Group Chairman

"In its 60th year, clearly India's time has come. The time has come to move from small increments to bold, large initiatives. The time has come to stretch the envelope and set goals which were earlier not seen to be possible."

Tatas in business

The Tata Group's business activities are conducted through 96 companies operating in seven business sectors. It has a presence in six continents and holds leadership positions in many industry segments, among them tea, software, automobiles, energy and hospitality. With revenues, in 2005-06, of $21.9 billion (Rs 967,229 million), it has a market capitilisation of $59.5 billion as on August 9, 2007.

Promoter companies

Tata Sons and Tata Industries are the two promoter companies of the Tata Group.

Tata Sons
This premier promoter company of the Tatas was established as a trading enterprise by Group founder Jamsetji Tata in 1868. It is the promoter of all key companies of the Tata Group and holds the bulk of shareholding in these companies. The chairman of Tata Sons has traditionally been the chairman of the Tata Group.

Tata Sons is the owner of the Tata name and the Tata trademark, which are registered in India and several other countries. About 66 per cent of the equity capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts endowed by members of the Tata family.

Tata Industries
Tata Industries was set up by Tata Sons in 1945 as a managing agency for businesses it promoted. Following the abolition of the managing agency system, Tata Industries' mandate was recast, in the early 1980s, to promote the Group's entry into new and high-tech areas.

Tata Industries has, over the last two decades, initiated and promoted the Group's ventures into several sectors, including control systems, information technology, financial services, auto components, advanced materials and telecom hardware. Tata Industries is the key player in the Group's entry into telecommunication services.

Group holding structure

Leadership with trust

Purpose
At the Tata Group our purpose is to improve the quality of life of the communities we serve. We do this through leadership in sectors of national economic significance, to which the Group brings a unique set of capabilities. This requires us to grow aggressively in focused areas of business.

Our heritage of returning to society what we earn evokes trust among consumers, employees, shareholders and the community. This heritage is being continuously enriched by the formalisation of the high standards of behaviour expected from employees and companies.

The Tata name is a unique asset representing leadership with trust. Leveraging this asset to enhance Group synergy and becoming globally competitive is the route to sustained growth and long-term success.

Five core values

The Tata Group has always sought to be a value-driven organisation. These values continue to direct the Group's growth and businesses. The five core Tata values underpinning the way we do business are:

	Integrity: We must conduct our business fairly, with honesty and transparency. Everything we do must stand the test of public scrutiny.
	Understanding: We must be caring, show respect, compassion and humanity for our colleagues and customers around the world, and always work for the benefit of the communities we serve.
	Excellence: We must constantly strive to achieve the highest possible standards in our day-to-day work and in the quality of the goods and services we provide.
	Unity: We must work cohesively with our colleagues across the Group and with our customers and partners around the world, building strong relationships based on tolerance, understanding and mutual cooperation.
	Responsibility: We must continue to be responsible, sensitive to the countries, communities and environments in which we work, always ensuring that what comes from the people goes back to the people many times over.