The Story of Tata Group

There are many recognized and revered multinational conglomerate holding firms across the world but one such company that immediately crosses our mind especially when we observe in the Indian context is the Tata Group. Tata Group of Companies is an Indian global aggregate holding organization headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. 

 

Guided by the motto of “Leadership with Trust”, the company believes in the long-term development of value for all its worldwide stakeholders. From a high degree of emphasis on quality, innovation, sustainable activities as well as business evolution, these are just a couple of the tags which the Tata brand has been pegged for. 

 

 

“Business, as I have seen it, places one great demand on you: it needs you to self-impose a framework of ethics, values, fairness and objectivity on yourself at all times.” - Ratan N Tata, 2006

 

 

The principal mission of the company is ‘To bring enhancement in the quality of life in the communities’, which it serves globally by creating long-term value for its stakeholders. 

 

In this blog, we will tell you a brief story of the origin and history of the Tata group of companies and the developments which have occurred within the operations of the group over the years that have shaped its present scenario. 

 

 

HISTORY OF TATA GROUP

 

It all began in 1868 when the entrepreneur and philanthropist, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata founded the Tata Group as a private trading entity. 

In 1902, the company expanded to incorporate Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) for opening the Taj Mahal Palace in 1903 which was actually the first luxury hotel in the nation. 

 

1904 witnessed the passing away of Jamsetji Tata with his son, Sir Dorab Tata taking over as the chairman of the group. With Dorab’s guidance and direction the group expanded swiftly and entered into various industry sectors including steel (1907), electricity (1910), education (1911), consumer goods (1917), as well as aviation (1932).

 

When Sir Dorab passed away in 1932, his position was taken over by Sir Nowroji Saklatwala.  After a period of six years, Jahangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata was given the position of chairman of the group. He gave a new turn to the company’s growth as it ventured into various new sectors that included chemicals (1939), cosmetics (1952), marketing, tea (1962) as well as software services (1968).

 

In the year of 1945, Tata Group added yet another feather to their hat by setting up the Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company, which we now know as Tata Motors since 2003. This business focuses on developing engineering and locomotive products.

 

In the year of 1991, Ratan Tata, JRD Tata’s nephew, took over as the chairman of the group. He endeavored to bolster the company and increasingly he focussed on taking the business on the global level. In 2000 under his leadership the group obtained the London-based Tetley Tea and in the year 2004 also acquired the truck-manufacturing operations of South Korea’s Daewoo Motors. In 2001, the group joined forces with American International Group, Inc to set up the insurance company Tata-AIG.

 

In the year of 2007, Tata Group obtained the Corus Group, the Anglo-Dutch steel manufacturer, and concluded the largest corporate takeover initiated by an Indian firm. From 2008 the Tata Group began venturing into the automotive sector. Yet another milestone was achieved in early January 2008 when Nano, the petite and tiny, rare engine, the pod-shaped car was introduced by Tata Motors which hit the roads by mid-July, 2009. 

 

One more milestone which was accomplished in 2008 was when Tata Group acquired the British brand's Jaguar as well as Land Rover from the Ford Motor Company. The year 2012 marked the retirement of Ratan Tata with Cyrus Mistry taking over his position. Owing to disagreements Mistry was dismissed as chairman in 2016 with Natarajan Chandrasekaran presently essaying the position. 

 

In September 2017, the Tata Group had announced its decision to combine its European steelmaking operations with German steelmaker, ThyssenKrupp. The deal was finalized in 2018 but got called off owing to the objections of the European Commission. Presently, Tata Steel Europe has restarted negotiations with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp for a possible merger almost a year after it was called off. 

 

In December 2019,  NCLAT restored Mistry as executive chairman of Tata Sons yet put its implementation on hold for a period of four weeks with the objective of facilitating time for the Tatas to appeal, a decision which was challenged in 2020 by Tata Sons before the Supreme Court.

 

Presently on March 26, 2021, the verdict was delivered by Supreme Court, allowing Tata Group's appeal and setting aside the NCLAT order, restoring Mistry as executive chairman of the Group.

 

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The Story of JRD Tata and Air India

 

There’s a long and deep-rooted connection between the airline Air India and JRD Tata, the former chairman of Tata Group.  The tale of Air India dates back a long way, even prior to the country getting its Independence. The airline was created in 1932 by Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata who was not just a business tycoon but also an Indian aviator and was termed Tata Air Services.  

 

After achieving the commercial license in 1929, in 1932, the airline was founded by JRD after he acquired the contract to deliver mails for Imperial Airways.  

 

Post this, Tata developed the aviation department of the group and took in two de Havilland Puss Moths monoplane airplanes. In the same year on October 15, Tata flew one of the Puss Moths with the airmail shipment from Karachi to Mumbai (Bombay) on a single-engine, after which the aircraft was flown to Chennai (Madras). 

 

In the initial service years of the airline, it was mainly adopted to carry weekly mails between Karachi, Chennai via Ahmedabad and Mumbai. 

 

Tata Air Services was later rechristened with the name of Tata Airlines when its first commercial flight from Mumbai was set off to Trivandrum.

 

The Airlines also aided the Royal Airforce with the movement of troops, shipment of supplies, and saving of refugees in World War II. In the year of 1946, Tata Airlines was internalized and became a public company, and was renamed Air India. Post the independence of the Indian nation, 49 percent of the airline’s stake was obtained by the government of India (GOI).  

 

The full nationalization of the airline was undertaken in 1953 when the Indian government served the Air Corporations Act and obtained a majority stake in the airline from Tata Group, internalizing Air India. Yet in tribute to JRD Tata's contribution and passion for the carrier, the government appointed him as chairman of the company. JRD continued to head Air India till 1977 when he was removed.  

 

Presently, the airline has been witnessing a great degree of tumult and disturbance as its debts rise. The government has opted for privatizing the carrier through auction with the Tata group being the sole bidder for the same, as reported by Times Now.

 

 

Present Scenario of the Tata Group of Companies 

 

Established in the year 1868, the Tata Group of Companies remains one of the Indian nation’s earliest business empires. The group is running in over 100 nations across six continents with over 750,000 employees, as of 2019-2020. With its headquarters residing in Mumbai, Tata Group is running various primary business segments which include chemicals, materials, consumer products, energy information systems, etc. The dominant investor of the firm is Tata Sons.

 

In 2019-20, the revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $106 billion (INR 7.5 trillion).

 

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Every Tata firm operates individually through the leadership and guidance of its board of directors. There are a total of 29 publicly-listed Tata companies having a combined market capitalization that has crossed past Rs 17 trillion mark.

 

Additionally, the trusts also back NGOs operating in the sectors of healthcare, livelihoods as well as education along with supporting various kinds of social welfare initiatives.

 

 

TATA GROUP Companies

 

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Tata Group Companies

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The majority of shares of the Tata Group companies are held by the holding company of the Tata Group, namely the Tata Sons. The firm is also the owner of the Tata name and Tata trademark on a global scale. 

 

The major companies under the Tata Group are Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Titan, Tata Capital, Tata Power, Tata Advanced Systems, Indian Hotels, and Tata Communications.

 

 

TATA Group Leading Team

 

The present members of the leading team of Tata Group comprise of the following :

 

Ratan N Tata:  Ratan Tata essayed the role of the Chairman of the Tata Group from the year 1991 - 2012. He returned as interim Chairman in October 2016 till January 2017 when the new Chairman was appointed. He has served as the leader for various major enterprises of Tata Group such as Tata Steel, TCs, Tata Motors, Indian Hotels, and more.

 

Natarajan Chandrasekaran:  Natarajan Chandrasekaran, who has been part of the board of Tata sons since October 2016 is the present Chairperson and additional director of the firm. He also chairs the Boards of the various group operating firms including Tata Steel, Indian Hotels Company Limited, and more. 

 

The present board of directors of the company consists mainly of N Chandrasekaran, Farida Khambata, Venu Srinivasan, Ajay Piramal, Dr. Ralf Speth, Bhaskar Bhat, Harish Manwani, and Saurabh Agarwal.

 

The Management Team has N Chandrasekaran, Saurabh Agarwal, Banmali Agarwala, Aarthi Subramanian, Shuva Mandal, and Harish Bhat, Suprakash Mukhopadhyay, Roopa Purushothaman, Nupur Mallick, Siddharth Sharma.

 

 

Conclusion

 

The Tata group with its phenomenal growth and rapid expansion over the decades has definitely laid the foundation for inspiring many aspiring new entrepreneurs, who wish to create a prominent place for their businesses in the future. The group remains a pride of the nation and a glowing precedent of potential success for fresh businessmen and entrepreneurs.