How Ratan Tata transformed Tata Group country’s most ubiquitous brand — a timeline

Ratan Naval Tata, the former chairman of Tata Sons, the parent company of the Tata Group of companies, has played a crucial role in making Tata the country's most ubiquitous brand.

The 86-year-old Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, Tata Industries, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals, known for his business acumen, vision and strong work ethic, passed away on Wednesday after being in critical condition at a Mumbai hospital.

Ratan Tata breathed his last after remaining in intensive care at Mumbai's Breach Candy hospital, according to reports.

Ratan Tata: The life and times 

 

What Ratan Tata learned and passed on, and what his triumphs and his conduct revealed — that surely is his legacy. His Life, His Times:

1937: Ratan Tata is born to Soonoo and Naval Tata.

1955: Leaves for Cornell University (Ithaca, New York, US) at age 17; goes on to study architecture and engineering over a seven-year period.

1962: Awarded bachelor of architecture degree.

1962: Ratan Tata joined the Tata Group in 1962 after working for multiple companies, and briefly with Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles.
 

 --Joins the Tata group as an assistant in Tata Industries; later in the year, spends six months training at the Jamshedpur plant of Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (now called Tata Motors).

1963: Moves to Tata Iron and Steel Company, or Tisco (now called Tata Steel), at its Jamshedpur facility for a training programme.

1965: Is appointed technical officer in Tisco’s engineering division.

1969: Works as the Tata group’s resident representative in Australia.

1970: Returns to India, joins Tata Consultancy Services, then a fledgling software firm, for a short stint.

1971: Tata was appointed the Director-in-charge of the National Radio & Electronics Company Limited in 1971.

1974: Joins the board of Tata Sons as a director.

1975: Completes the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

1981: Tata became the Chairman of Tata Industries, where he was responsible for transforming it into a group think tank and promoter of new ventures in high-tech businesses.

1983: Ratan Tata launched the everyday household salt brand — Tata Salt, India's first national branded salt. Tata Salt was the first to introduce iodized vacuum-evaporated salt at a time when unbranded and unpackaged salt was popular.

-- Drafts the Tata strategic plan.

1986: Ratan Tata was appointed Chairman of Air India, India's then-luxury national carrier. He stepped down in 1989.

March 25,1991: Ratan Tata became the Chairman of Tata Sons and Chairman of the Tata Trusts, succeeding Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy (JRD) Tata. Begins restructuring of the Tata Group coinciding with the liberalisation of the Indian economy.

1999: Ratan Tata and his team were rejected by Ford Motors when they took the company's young passenger car business to the American carmaker. They laughed at the brand's lack of expertise in the passenger vehicle (PV) segment. This took an ironic turn when, later, Ratan Tata bought Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) from Ford Motors.

2000: Ratan Tata received Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award from the Government of India. The same year, Tata Tea also bought the global tea brand Tetley Group for 271 million euros. The growth and globalisation drive of the Tata group gathers pace under his stewardship and the new millennium sees a string of high-profile Tata acquisitions including Corus, Jaguar Land Rover, Brunner Mond, General Chemical Industrial Products and Daewoo.

2004: Under Ratan Tata's leadership as the chairman of Tata Sons, the group's IT firm, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), was listed on the Indian stock exchanges. The IT firm is now worth $183.36 billion and is the second-largest company in India Inc, according to CompanyMarketCap data.

2006: Tata also ventured into the Direct-to-Home (DTH) television business by launching TataSky. The business is now one of the biggest in the television network distribution space.

2008: The year of irony for the Tata Group and the American carmaker Ford Motors. Tata Motors acquired Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) from Ford Motors for $2.5 billion. Tata bailed out Ford of a deal filled with financial losses, stiff competition, and quality issues, as the brand then focused on capitalising on JLR's luxury appeal.

Ratan Tata also received the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award from the Government of India.

To make cars affordable for the common man in India, Ratan Tata launched the Tata Nano this year. It was the cheapest car in the country, with a price tag of ₹1 lakh.

December 2012: Ratan Tata stepped down as the Chairman of Tata Sons after 50 years with the Tata Group and was appointed Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons.

2022: A decade after Tata stepped down as acting Chairman of Tata Sons. Ratan Tata welcomed the airline Air India back into the Tata family after the Group bought it from the Indian government. Tata Group paid the government ₹18,000 crore for the Air India acquisition.

October 2024: Ratan Tata passes away at the age of 86.