The sad demise of Padma Vibhushan Ratan Naval Tata – one of the greatest Indian industrialists across the world – is a huge loss, not only for the industry but the entire nation.
The founder of the Tata Group, industrialist and philanthropist Jamshed Ji Tata had laid the foundation of the largest steel industry in the country, which we now know as the Tata Steel, before India gained Independence. He had begun this large steel company, collecting one rupee as equity capital from the several common people, demonstrating that the nation can be built by patriotic Indians.
After Ratan Tata took over the reins of the Tata Group, he worked tirelessly to carry forward the same legacy. His life has been a source of inspiration for emerging entrepreneurs not only in our country but all over the world.
Profit has never been the sole objective of the Tata Group, and under the visionary leadership of Ratan Tata, its top priority has always been care for its workers, the poor and the downtrodden. With his determination, Ratan Tata took the Tata Group businesses, including steel, automobiles and aviation, to newer heights, always making India proud.
What makes the Tata Group different from other business houses is that it has always been pro-workers, and has always kept common man, especially the poor, in mind while implementing its strategies and opening new businesses. It is now a common knowledge that the idea of building the Tata Nano car came to Ratan Tata when he saw a family of four on scooter manoeuvring its way amid heavy traffic in Bengaluru one day. It was then that he thought of making a small car that would be affordable for the common man and he did accomplish this task.
While Ratan Tata’s business philosophy shows sensitivity towards the common man and workers, his acts always reflected his immense love for the country. Who can forget that he refused to meet a Pakistani industrialist despite a request from a senior Minister! The incident happened after the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai in which Taj Hotel was also attacked. A few months after 26/11 terror attacks, Tata Group floated tenders for renovating its hotels. Some Pak companies too applied for that tender, and two big industrialists from Pakistan visited the Bombay House (Head office of Tata) in Mumbai to meet up with Ratan Tata. They were initially made to wait at the reception for a few hours and later told to leave. These industrialists then met a Minister in the Government of India, following which the Minister telephoned him to grant an audience and “consider their tender enthusiastically”. Refusing to do so, Ratan Tata clearly told the minister “You may be shameless, I am not”.
Similarly, some months later when Pakistani Government placed an order for Tata Sumos to be imported to Paksitan, Ratan Tata refused to give a single vehicle to them. Such was his love for the country!
Whenever the country faced crisis, Ratan Tata made generous contributions. During the Covid–19 pandemic, he contributed Rs 500 crore, while the Tata Group as a whole contributed a total of Rs 1,500 crore during the whole crisis – an amount , much more than given by any other business group in the country.
Also, among all the big industrial houses, it was the Tata Group that not only paid full salary to its employees during the pandemic, but also ensured that the families of those who lost their lives during Covid-19 continued to receive full salary till the date of their retirement.
That he always believed in taking people along with him is evident from his now famous quote: “If you want to walk fast, walk alone. But, if you want to walk far, walk together.”
Although Ratan Tata was heading the country’s largest industrial house, he never had any airs about himself. He was always very down to earth and humble person, always a perfect example of humility.
At the time when he took over the leadership of the Tata Group, other industrial groups were expanding in various fields, but Ratan Tata chose a different path. He began acquiring companies internationally to make India’s presence felt globally as also give impetus to his already established industries.
The Tatas acquired UK’s Corus Company for $12 billion. At the time of acquisition, Corus was four times larger than Tata Steel, in terms of annual steel production. Corus, at that time, was the ninth largest steel producing company in the world, while Tata Steel ranked 56th. And, after the acquisition, Tata Steel became the fifth largest steel producing company in the world. Generally, whenever a foreign entity acquires a company, there is a lot of opposition among its people and employees, but the most proud thing in this acquisition was that the employees celebrated the moment as they were confident of getting a fair treatment, because, by that time, the Tatas had made its name for being a company that puts its employee interests first.
Similarly, the world’s largest car company Ford was also acquired by the Tata Group under the leadership of Ratan Tata, due to which Tata Motors got catapulted to the centrestage in the world’s automobile market.
Ratan Tata was a guiding force for policy makers, who always fore-warned them over their mistakes. With his visionary leadership, he always won the love, praise and loyalty of his workers, consumers and common people alike.
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