As the prestigious Taj was going up in flames, and billowing smoke cast a silence of cold anger amongst the people of the most peace-loving country of the world………, he stood looking at the ghastly structure, firm with a defiant face and lips pouted that accompanied a sense of boundless resilience and uncompromising grit to rebuild the monument that represents the very foundation of India’s entrepreneurial glory.

“Reopening of the hotel will send a message to the terrorists that they can hurt us but we cannot be knocked down.’’ retorted the 71 plus-year-old scion of Tata legacy that nurtured Tata Group into India’s largest conglomerate, at the reopening ceremony of Taj.  

Early Life

Ratan Naval Tata, the great grandson of Jamsetji Tata, was born on December 28, 1937 in Surat, Gujrat, to Soonoo and Naval Hormusji Tata. He did not have a smooth sail in childhood with his parents separating when he was barely about seven and his younger brother Jimmy, five. Both Ratan and his brother were brought up by their grandmother Lady Navajbai.

He did his schooling at the Campion School, Mumbai and later graduated from Cornell University in 1962 with a degree in Architecture and Structural Engineering. 

By nature, a shy man, he rarely features in the society glossies. Has lived for years in a book-crammed, dog-filled bachelor flat in Mumbai’s Colaba district.

Venture into Tata Group

Joined the Tata Group in 1962, after turning down a job with IBM on the advice of J R D Tata. He started off on a humble note by taking up a job at Jamshedpur to work at Tata Steel. He worked on the floor along with other blue-collar employees, shoveling limestone and handling the blast furnaces.

Ratan was appointed the Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (Nelco), a company that was, at that point of time, in dire financial mess. Eventually, under his mentorship, Nelco’s market share grew from mere 2% to 20% just within three years. and recovered its losses.  Though the venture was making a steady progress in terms of demand, it could not keep up the production because of union problems that followed after emergency had come to an end in 1977. So, the Tatas had to call it quits.

In 1981, Ratan was named Director of Tata Industries and took on the responsibility of transforming the business empire into the Group’s strategy think-tank and a promoter of new ventures in high-technology businesses.  

In 1991, he took over as group Chairman from J.R.D. Tata, brushing aside the old guard and making way for younger managers. Since then, he has been instrumental in reshaping the fortunes of the Tata Group, which today has the distinction of sitting on the largest market capitalization of any business house on the Indian Stock Market.

Under his guidance, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) went public and Tata Motors was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998, Tata Motors introduced his brainchild, the Tata Indica.

For long, it had been his dream to manufacture a car for the middle class at an affordable price and thus the idea of Tata Nano was born. He realized the dream by launching the car in New Delhi Auto Expo on January 10, 2008. Three models of the Tata Nano were announced, and Ratan Tata delivered on his promise to developing a car costing just one lakh rupees. 

After a land controversy in West Bengal, Ratan Tata and his men shifted Nano project to Sanand near Ahmedabad at an investment of Rs 2,000 crore, declaring that efforts will be made to roll out the world’s cheapest car from a makeshift plant to meet the deadline.

A Philanthropist par excellence

His colossal business acumen finds resonance with his deep sense of love for humanity. Philanthropic trusts endowed by members of the Tata family hold about sixty-six per cent of the equity capital of Tata Sons. The most important of these trusts are the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust. He was honored with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2007 on behalf of the Tata family.

National and International Honors

On 26 January 2008, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian decoration.

Recipient of the NASSCOM Global Leadership Awards-2008

A member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry. In March 2006, he was honored by Cornell University as the 26th Robert S. Hatfield Fellow in Economic Education.
 
In May 2008. He made it to the Time magazine’s 2008 list of the World’s 100 most influential people.
In February 2004, was conferred the title of honorary economic advisor to Hangzhou city in the Zhejiang province of China.

Also, a member of the board of trustees of the RAND Corporation, University of Southern California and of his alma mater, Cornell University.

First Indian to receive honorary citizenship of Singapore in recognition of his abiding business relationship with the island nation and his contribution to the growth of high-tech sectors in Singapore.

Nation’s Call

The suggestions that he should don the mantle of the premier of India do not lack substance.  His business wisdom and a genuine sense of philanthropy are just the right ingredients to make him the leader that India has desperately been awaiting for eons.