’You will never understand ...’: What Ratan Tata told an industrialist when asked to pay ₹15 crore bribe to minister

Veteran industrialist Ratan Naval Tata breathed his last on Wednesday, October 9. Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, Tata Industries, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals, known for his vision and business proficiency passed away at the age of 86.

In an old interview, Tata shared his conversation with a fellow industrialist on corruption. The business tycoon, in an interview with NDTV in 2010, stated that he was advised by the industrialist to pay ₹15 crore to a minister for a business deal.

"You know, why don't you pay the minister, you know that he wants 15 crore…. you know, you people want the airline, don't you? You want the airline, pay 15 crore,” the fellow industrialist asked.

Referring to this conversation when he was asked how to avoid corruption, Ratan Tata said that corruption had to be self-regulated.

“It has to be self-regulating….You will never understand that, we just don't do that,” Tata told the industrialist.

Tata said that he has avoided indulging in corruptive practices because he wanted to go to bed at night feeling that he has not succumbed to it. Additionally, the business tycoon mentioned that he has never participated in corrupt practices, not even for a mining licence.

The former chairman of Tata Sons has been an integral part of making Tata a well-renowned brand.

Ratan Tata was born on December 28, 1937, in the Tata family, known for their family business for generations.

He studied architecture and structural engineering at Cornell University, following which he finished the management programme at Harvard Business School. In 1991, Ratan Tata took over as chairman of the Tata Group, managing the century-old conglomerate founded by his great grandfather.

In previous interviews, Tata said that he wanted to be remembered as someone who was able to make a change.

"I would like to be remembered as somebody who had never hurt others and done work to the best interest of business," Tata said at a discussion organised by the Ladies Study Group of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata in 2014.

Apart from his business acumen and visionary leadership, he was also known for his philanthropy initiatives, according to his profile on the Tata Sons website.