Tribute to Ratan Naval Tata

Oinam Nabakishore Singh *

Ratan Naval Tata passed away at 11.30 pm on Wednesday, the 9th October, 2024 at Breach Candy Hospital at south Mumbai at the age of 86 after a brief illness related to ageing. There were outpouring of condolences, praises and admirations, fond memories, obituaries and eulogies from many leaders including Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, Shri Rahul Gandhi, leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, business community in India and abroad. Passing away of Ratan Tata leaves a vacuum in the world of business and philanthropy in India and abroad.

Television channels and social media were quick to bring forth discussions and interviews with a lot of people who knew Ratan Tata closely or from a distance to highlight the person he was during his lifetime. Everybody says that Ratan Tata was humble despite his position as Chairman of the Tata Group of companies.

This trait is visible to one and all as manifest from his words, responses to those interacting with him and words used by him. In all his appearances while receiving awards or honorary degrees or participation as a panelist, he never crossed his legs, which may be seen as a disrespect to the audience.

Besides his humbleness, he is also recognized to be humane in the tradition of the family of Tata. His concern for the well-being of fellow human beings, both in India and abroad, is evident from his donations to many institutions.

Ratan Tata started his career in Tata Steel by working as an ordinary worker on the shop floor. Through such job, he learned the dynamics of working on the shop floor without any comfort whatsoever. He also learned about the working conditions of the workers, their attitude and views on many aspects of a factory.

Later on, after working on the shop floor for about a decade, he was given a managerial position in National Radio and Electronics (NELCO) in 1970s. Later in 1991, he was made the Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Group of companies after JRD Tata, his uncle stepped down from that position.

His ascension was not without resistance from many heads of the subsidiary companies, who had been enjoying freedom in their operation under JRD Tata. He took a number of steps to streamline the operations of numerous companies under the Tata Group. He also used the services of consultants to bring all products of Tata Group under the same brand of Tata logos in order to enhance brand value of the products and their visibility and recognition.

He was chairman of the group for about 21 years from 1991 to 2012. He was responsible for strategic acquisitions of companies abroad to make the group a multinational conglomerate. Acquisitions of Tetley tea, steel company, Corus and JLR Land Rovers in the United Kingdom and their successful operation proved to the global community of the financial and managerial strength of the group.

During the tenure of Ratan Tata at the helm, market capitalization of listed companies of the Tata Group increased from Rs 30, 000 crore to Rs 5.00 lakh crore. Now, the market capitalization of the said companies stand at Rs 30.00 lakh crore. Such increases in the value of stocks would have resulted in creation of tremendous wealth for shareholders especially retail investors.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwalla, who is called Warren Buffet of India’s stock market, bought shares of Titan company, a Tata company, at Rs 30-32 in 2002-03 and its market price today (18.10.2024) is Rs 3,381. Appreciation is about 1000 times. During the tenure of Ratan Tata, the revenue of the group companies too increased from about Rs 18, 000 crore to Rs 5.5 lakh crore.

The growth of Tata group companies has contributed to the growth and development of India in many respects. Tata Steel which produces steel may be considered to be pivotal in the creation of infrastructure like roads and bridges, power plants, buildings, equipment and machineries, rail roads, transportation vehicles and any appliance where steel is used. Tata trucks with the highest market share of commercial vehicle in the country moves goods across the country for decades.

What stands out for Ratan Tata is having a conviction to translate a dream, which is considered to be impossible by many into reality. On seeing that the vast majority of Indians cannot afford a car, he thought of making an affordable car below one lakh rupees. At that time the cheapest car would have cost three lakh rupees.

When this idea was placed before his colleagues and others, it was rejected as something not feasible. However, Ratan Tata stood his ground. So far, Tata Mo-tors has been making co- mmercial vehicles in India. Now, it has ventured into an entirely new area of making passenger cars. There were doubters as to the capability of Indian car makers as passenger car market has been dominated by Japanese and European car makers.

Finally, Tata launched Indica, a hatchback, in 1998 and it proved to be very successful. Small car Tata Nano was manufactured from 2008 to 2018 and sold at Rs 1,00,000. However, it was not very popular due to a few instance of Nano catching fire.

Nevertheless, Rata Tata proved that it was possible to make a four-wheeler passenger car at Rs 1,00,000. Rata Tata will also be remembered for his philanthropic works. He is the highest international donor to Cornell University, his alma mater. Under his leadership, Tata Group donated substantial amounts for research and development to Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, Harvard University, USA, University of California, USA, etc.

The number of welfare and development works under- taken by Tata Sons in India and abroad is numerous. In Manipur, it extended financial assistance to the farmers for production of milk and raise their living standards. Their representatives came to set up a skill centre to provide training to unemployed youths in repairing of automobiles in Imphal.

The simple life led by Rata Tata has been mentioned by many who came in contact with him. He is said to drive his own car. He lived in a modest home. He made Tata Group a truly global company, which is not an easy achievement in the competitive world of business. He is known for ethical practices in business.

It is considered to be common for business houses to oil the palm of politicians and bureaucrats in India, where license and permit raj continued till liberation began in 1991. However, Rata Tata, preferred morality over unethical practices, and he was proud of his stand. Throughout his career, at the cost of loss of business opportunities, he remained ever an epitome of ethical business practices in India.