Success Story of One of the most well-known and respected industrialists Ratan Tata

 

One of the most well-known and respected industrialists in India, Ratan Naval Tata is the Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Group. At the age of 73, Tata heads one of the country’s largest conglomerates which comprise nearly 100 firms with revenues totaling about USD 67 billion. 

He is also the chairman of major Tata companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Teleservices. Power, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, and The Indian Hotels Company.

Tata was born on December 28, 1937 in Mumbai, in one of the richest families. His great grandfather was Jamsedji Tata, founder of the Tata group. As a young boy, Tata had a disturbed childhood after his parents split. He was raised by his grandmother, Lady Navajbai in the lap of luxury at Tata Palace.

He studied at the Campion School, Mumbai till the 8th class, followed by Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai and at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla,and, in 1955, graduated from Riverdale Country School in New York City. In 1959, he then received a degree in Architecture from Cornell University, and in 1975, attended the 7-week Advanced Management Program of Harvard Business School — an institution which he has since endowed.

In 1962, he joined the Tata Group and his first job involved working with the Tata Steel division in Jamshedpur, where he worked with the blue-collar employees shoveling stone and working with the furnaces. He was appointed the Director-in-Charge of the National Radio & Electronics Company Limited in 1971 and was successful in turning Nelco around.

He is a director on the boards of Alcoa Inc., Mondelez International and Board of Governors of the East–West Center. He is also a member of the board of trustees of University of Southern California, Harvard Business School Board of Dean's Advisors, X Prize and Cornell University. He is a member on the board of International Advisory Council at Bocconi University.

Tata also serves on the boards of Fiat SpA and Alcoa and is also on the international advisory boards of Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group, JP Morgan Chase, Rolls Royce, Temasek Holdings and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Ratan Tata received the Padma Bhushan in 2000 and Padma Vibhushan in 2008, the third and second highest civilian honours awarded by the Government of India. In 2021 he received the highest civilian award of Assam 'Assam Baibhav' for his exceptional contribution towards furthering cancer care in Assam. Tata has a personal fortune of GBP 300 million and owns less than 1% of the colossal group.

His steered plan to provide cheap and clean drinking water and helped a few Pune-based designers develop a sub-Rs 1,000 water purifier, Swach. Design Directions Private Limited took more than three years to make this 560-mm unit for purifying water.