Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata, who shaped the Tata group and oversaw several milestones achieved by the conglomerate, turns 85 today. Known for his humility, the philanthropist took charge as the chairman of the group in March 1991 and stepped down in 2012.
Ratan Tata went to Cornell University, US, at the age of 17 and studied architecture and engineering. He became part of the Tata group as an assistant in Tata Industries in 1962 and trained for six months at the Jamshedpur plant of Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company, which is now known as Tata Motors. He later worked at Tisco, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and also served as Chairman of Air India from 1986 to 1989.
Today, on his birthday, let us look at some facts about the Tata patriarch.
– Ratan Tata began revamping the Tata Group in 1991 during the liberalisation of the Indian economy. In 1998, Tata launched its first passenger car, Tata Indica, under the philanthropist's leadership. The vehicle turned out to be a success within two years of its launch.
– In 2000, Tata Global Beverages, then Tata Tea, took over the Tetley Group, the largest tea company in the UK.
– Tata witnessed some high-profile acquisitions during Ratan Tata's tenure as Chairman. This included Jaguar Land Rover, General Chemical Industrial Products, Brunner Mond, and Daewoo.
– In 2003, TCS became the first company to cross the $1 billion revenue mark. A year later, another milestone was achieved as Tata Motors got listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
– Tata Nano, India's cheapest passenger car, was rolled out by Tata in 2008. It was priced at Rs 1 lakh. In 2012, Tata Starbucks Ltd, a joint venture of Tata Global Beverages and Starbucks, was formed and the first store was opened in Mumbai.
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