Horizon ČT24: The life of Indian entrepreneur Ratan Tata (source: ČT24)
India bid farewell to industrialist and visionary Ratan Tata with a state funeral. For 22 years, the world-renowned businessman managed the country’s largest conglomerate, the Tata Group. Under his leadership, the company made acquisitions of several British companies, such as the purchase of Jaguar or Land Rover. Tata, who lived to be 86 years old, became famous as a philanthropist and the manufacturer of India’s cheapest car.
“I have always believed in a new India. We just have to create it,” declared Ratan Tata. He studied architecture in the United States. After returning to India, he worked in the companies of the Tata Group, a family organization founded by his great-grandfather. He started as a worker in ironworks, then managed a plant for the production of radios and televisions. In 1991, his uncle chose him to head the holding.
He drew considerable attention to himself in 2000, when he bought the British company Tetley for 432 million dollars (ten billion crowns), creating the second largest tea producer in the world. He also bought other British companies – the ironworks colossus Corus or the struggling car companies Jaguar and Land Rover.
The cheapest car
One of Tata’s goals was to create a people’s car that everyone in billion-dollar India could afford. When he presented it in 2008, it cost less than 40 thousand crowns. “I can assure you and our critics that the car we have designed and are presenting today really meets all the current safety requirements for a modern car,” Tata emphasized at the time.
But the car, which the head of the Indian conglomerate himself helped to design, ultimately did not stand on the market – also because of problems with safety. Even this little bit did not fundamentally damage the visionary reputation of the man from Mumbai, who managed a group of one hundred companies with 660 thousand employees for a total of 22 years. He brought the Indian company to world prominence through successful acquisitions.
After his departure from the head of the conglomerate in 2017, he remained its director emeritus. He has also become a leading investor in Indian start-ups. Under the management of Tata, the sales of the family holding exceeded one hundred billion dollars (about 2.3 trillion crowns).
“He was the pride of our nation and the state of Maharashtra. Despite his social status, he was a simple and ordinary person,” said Iknath Shindi, the prime minister of the western Indian state.
Philanthropy
Tata’s reputation improved even more after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. At that time, Islamists broke into his luxury hotel, where they murdered 33 people, including eleven employees. Ratan Tata spent three whole days in front of the occupied building. He took care of the families of the slain workers after the incident was over.
“I really miss him. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like him in my life,” confided writer and philanthropist Sudha Murty. At the same time, the unmarried and childless man donated up to two-thirds of his earned wealth to charitable purposes. Not only because of this, India has now given him a funeral with the highest honors.
