RATAN NAVAL TATA

Ratan Naval Tata (born December 28, 1937, in

Mumbai) is the present Chairman of the Tata
Group, India's largest conglomerate founded by
Jamsedji Tata and consolidated and expanded by
la ter generations of his family.

QUOTES
"Question the unquestionable." & "a promise is a promise,"

Early life
Tata was born into the wealthy and famous Tata family of Mumbai. He was
born to Soonoo and Naval Hormusji Tata. Ratan is the great grandson of
Tata group founder Jamsetji Tata. Ratan's childhood was troubled, his
parents separating in the mid-1940s, when he was about seven and his
younger brother Jimmy was five. His mother moved out and both Ratan and
his brother were raised by their grandmother Lady Navajbai.

Early career
Ratan Tata completed a BS degree in architecture with structural engineering
from Cornell University in 1962, and the Advanced Management Program
from Harvard Business School in 1975. He joined the Tata Group in
December 1962, after turning down a job with IBM on the advice of
JRD Tata. He was first sent to Jamshedpur to work at Tata Steel. He worked
on the floor along with other blue-collar employees, shoveling limestone and
handling the blast furnaces. Ratan Tata, a shy man, rarely features in the
society glossies, has lived for years in a book-crammed, dog-filled bachelor
flat in Mumbai's Colaba district.

Wealth
Ratan Tata has his own capital in Tata Sons., the holding company of the
group. His share is around 1%, valuing his personal holding at
approximately US$ 1 Billion. About 66% of the equity capital of Tata Sons
is held by philanthropic trusts endowed by members of the Tata family. The
biggest two of these trusts are the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan
Tata Trust, which were created by the families of the sons of Jamshedji Tata.
Ratan Tata is on the board of trustees of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and is the
chairman of the board of trustees of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, giving him
significant influence on the board of Tata Sons, despite his minority personal
shareholding.

Career
In 1971, Ratan was appointed the Director-in-Charge of The National Radio
& Electronics Company Limited (Nelco), a company that was in dire
financial difficulty. Ratan suggested that the company invest in developing
high-technology products, rather than in consumer electronics. J.R.D. was
reluctant due to the historical financial performance of Nelco which had
never even paid regular dividends. Further, Nelco had 2% market share in
the consumer electronics market and a loss margin of 40% of sales when
Ratan took over. Nonetheless, J. R. D. followed Ratan's suggestions.
From 1972 to 1975, Nelco eventually grew to have a market share of 20%,
and recovered its losses. In 1975 however, India's Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi declared a state of emergency, which led to an economic recession.
This was followed by union problems in 1977, so even after demand
improved, production did not keep up. Finally, the Tatas confronted the
unions and, following a strike, a lockout was imposed for seven months.
Ratan continued to believe in the fundamental soundness of Nelco, but the
venture did not survive.

In 1977, Ratan was entrusted with Empress Mills, a textile mill controlled by
the Tatas. When he took charge of the company, it was one of the few sick
units in the Tata group. Ratan managed to turn it around and even declared a
dividend. However, competition from less labour-intensive enterprises had
made a number of companies unviable, including those like the Empress
which had large labour contingents and had spent too little on
modernisation. On Ratan's insistence, some investment was made, but it did
not suffice. As the market for coarse and medium cotton cloth (which was all
that the Empress produced) turned adverse, the Empress began to
accumulate heavier losses. Bombay House, the Tata headquarters, was
unwilling to divert funds from other group companies into an undertaking
which would need to be nursed for a long time. So, some Tata directors,
chiefly Nani Palkhivala, took the line that the Tatas should liquidate the mill,
which was finally closed down in 1986. Ratan was severely disappointed
with the decision, and in a later interview with the Hindustan Times would
claim that the Empress had needed just Rs 50 lakhs to turn it around.

In 1981, Ratan was named director of Tata Industries, the Group's other
holding company, where he became responsible for transforming it into the
Group's strategy think-tank and a promoter of new ventures in high-
technology businesses.

In 1991, he took over as group chairman from J.R.D. Tata, pushing out the
old guard and ushering in younger managers. Since then, he has been
instrumental in reshaping the fortunes of the Tata Group, which today has
the largest market capitalization of any business house on the Indian Stock
Market.

Under Ratan's guidance, Tata Consultancy Services went public and Tata
Motors was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998, Tata Motors
introduced his brainchild, the Tata Indica.
On January 31, 2007, under the chairmanship of Ratan Tata, Tata Sons
successfully acquired Corus Group, an Anglo-Dutch steel and aluminium
producer. With the acquisition, Ratan Tata became a celebrated personality
in Indian corporate business culture. The merger created the fifth largest
steel producing entity in the world.

On March 26, 2008, Tata Motors, under Ratan Tata, bought Jaguar & Land
Rover from Ford Motor Company. The two iconic British brands, Jaguar and
Land Rover, were acquired for £1.15 billion ($2.3 billion).

Tata Nano car, 2008

Ratan Tata's dream was to manufacture a car costing Rs 100,000 (1998:

approx. US$2,200; today US$2,000 US$2,528). He realized his dream by
launching the car in New Delhi Auto Expo on January 10, 2008. Three
models of the Tata Nano were announced, and Ratan Tata delivered on his
commitment to developing a car costing only 1 lakh rupees, adding that "a
promise is a promise," referring to his earlier promise to deliver this car at
the said cost. Recently when his plant for Nano production was obstructed
by Mamta Banerjee, his decision of going out of West Bengal was warmly
welcomed. Banerjee had the support of the people of Singur, where the Nano
plant was being constructed, and many social movements. They criticised
Ratan Tata for forcing people out of their land in collusion with the Left
Front government in the state, headed by Budhadeb Bhattacharjee.

On October 7, 2008, After a controversial stay in West Bengal, Ratan Tata

and his men shifted their Rs 1-lakh car Nano project to Sanand near
Ahmedabad at an investment of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion), declaring
that efforts will be made to roll out the world's cheapest car from a make-
shift plant to meet the deadline. Praising Modi for speedy allocation of about
1,100 acres (4.5 km2) of centrally located land, Ratan Tata said that the
company had a great deal of urgency in having a new location and was
driven by the reputation of the state. He successfully made a secret deal with
Narendra Modi who agreed to give him a soft loan to the tune of
approximately $10 billion to make the car in Gujarat.

The car was launched on March 23, 2009 amid much fanfare with advance
bookings that preceded its launch by months.

Personal life
Mr. Ratan Tata has a metallic blue Maserati. He sometimes likes to fly his
private jet himself. He has a Falcon Jet. He has never been married.

Social and environmental record

The TATA Group is widely believed to make the largest contribution to
charity of any corporation in India. However, during his tenure as Chairman
of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata has come in for criticism from human rights
and environmental activists for the TATA Group’s record in this sector and
the apparent reluctance to address these issues at the Group level.

Kalinganagar, Orissa: On January 2, 2006, policemen at Kalinganagar,

Orissa, opened fire at a crowd of tribal villagers. The villagers were
protesting the construction of a compound wall on land historically owned
by them, for a Tata steel plant. Some of the corpses were returned to the
families in a mutilated condition. When pushed for comment, TATA officials
said the incident was unfortunate but that it would continue with its plans to
set up the plant.

Dow Chemicals, Bhopal Gas Disaster: In November 2006, survivors

of the Bhopal gas disaster were outraged by Ratan Tata’s offer to bail out
Union Carbide and facilitate investments by Carbide’s new owner Dow
Chemical. Tata had proposed leading a charitable effort to clean-up the toxic
wastes abandoned by Carbide in Bhopal. At a time when the Government of
India has held Dow Chemical liable for the clean-up and requested Rs. 100
crores from the American MNC, survivor’s groups felt that Tata’s offer was
aimed at frustrating legal efforts to hold the company liable, and motivated
by a desire to facilitate Dow’s investments in India.
TATA supplies to Burma’s military regime: TATA Motors reported
deals to supply hardware and automobiles to Burma’s oppressive and anti-
democratic military junta has come in for criticism from human rights and
democracy activists. In December 2006, Gen. Thura Shwe Mann,
Myanmar’s chief of general staff visited the Tata Motors plant in Pune.
["Myanmar Ties." December 8, 2006. The Telegraph, Calcutta, India]. In
2009, TATA Motors announced that it would press ahead with plans to
manufacture trucks in Myanmar.

Singur displacement: The Singur controversy in West Bengal led to

further questions over TATA’s social record, with protests by local villagers
and some political parties over forcible eviction and inadequate
compensation to those being displaced for the TATA Nano plant. As the
protests gathered steam, and despite having the support of the ruling CPI(M)
government, TATA eventually pulled the project out of the state of West
Bengal, citing safety concerns. The Singur controversy was one of the few
occasions when Ratan Tata was forced to publicly address criticisms and
concerns on any environmental or social issue. Ratan Tata’s subsequent
embrace of and praise for Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, also
earned him brickbats on account of Modi’s openly communal stance and his
performance as Chief Minister during the 2002 pogrom that saw hundreds of
Muslims killed in riots within the state.

Dhamra Port: On the environmental front, the Dhamra port controversy

has received significant coverage, both within India and in Tata’s emerging
global markets. (‘India – Tata in troubled waters’, Ethical Corporation,
November 2007, London, UK)

The Dhamra port, a venture between TATA Steel and Larsen & Toubro, has
come in for criticism for its proximity to the Gahirmatha Sanctuary and
Bitharkanika National Park, from Indian and international organizations,
including Greenpeace. Gahirmatha is one of the world’s largest mass nesting
sites for the olive ridley turtle and Bitharkanika is a designated Ramsar site
and India’s second largest mangrove forest. TATA officials have denied that
the port poses an ecological threat, and stated that mitigation measures are
being employed with the advice of the IUCN. On the other hand,
conservation organizations, including Greenpeace, have pointed out that no
proper Environment Impact Analysis has been done for the project, which
has undergone changes in size and specifications since it was first proposed
and that the port could interfere with mass nesting at the Gahirmtha beaches
and the ecology of the Bitharkanika mangrove forest.

Protests by Greenpeace to Dhamra Port construction is also alleged to be

less on factual data and more on hype and DPCL's (Dhamra Port Company
Limited) response to Greenpeace questions harbours on these facts .
Nevertheless, if good intentions prevail on both sides, we can have progress
on sustainable development in one of the poorest parts of India, benefitting
the society immensely.

Awards and Recognition

On the occasion of India's 58th Republic Day on 26 January 2000, Ratan
Tata was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest decoration
that may be awarded to a civilian. On 26 January 2008 he was awarded the
Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian decoration. He was one of the
recipients of the NASSCOM Global Leadership Awards-2008 given away at
a ceremony on February 14 2008 in Mumbai. Ratan Tata accepted the
Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2007 on behalf of the Tata family.

Ratan Tata serves in senior capacities in various organisations in India and

he is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry. In
March 2006 Tata was honoured by Cornell University as the 26th Robert S.
Hatfield Fellow in Economic Education, considered the highest honor the
university awards to distinguished individuals from the corporate sector.

Ratan Tata's foreign affiliations include membership of the international

advisory boards of the Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International
Group, JP Morgan Chase and Booz Allen Hamilton. He is also a member of
the board of trustees of the RAND Corporation, University of Southern
California and of his alma mater, Cornell University. He also serves as a
board member on the Republic of South Africa's International Investment
Council and is an Asia-Pacific advisory committee member for the New
York Stock Exchange. Tata is on the board of governors of the East-West
Center, the advisory board of RAND's Center for Asia Pacific Policy and
serves on the programme board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's
India AIDS initiative. In February 2004, Ratan Tata was conferred the title of
honorary economic advisor to Hangzhou city in the Zhejiang province of
China.
He recently received an honorary doctorate from the London School of
Economics and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.He was listed
among the 25 most powerful people in business named by Fortune magazine
in November 2007. In May 2008 Mr Tata made it to the Time magazine's
2008 list of the World's 100 most influential people. Tata was hailed for
unveiling his tiny Rs. one lakh car 'Nano'.

On 29 August 2008, the Government of Singapore conferred honorary

citizenship on Ratan Tata, in recognition of his abiding business relationship
with the island nation and his contribution to the growth of high-tech sectors
in Singapore. Ratan Tata is the first Indian to receive this honour.

After the 26 November 2008 Mumbai attacks, Forbes opined Ratan Tata be
brought into politics, calling him India's most respected business leader.[

In 2009 he was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the British

Empire.