150 years ago, a small cotton trader dreamed of changing India, completely unaware that one day his dream would give birth to a business empire that would not only change India but also win the hearts of millions of Indians. This is the story of the Tata Group. Get ready to be inspired.

Founder of Tata Group:

Jamshedji Tata was born in 1839. In 1858, Jamshedji completed his education and started a cotton trading business with his father. Despite many difficulties in the next 10 years, their business became very big. But Jamshedji was not satisfied with just trading cotton.

Beginning of the Tata Group:

He wanted to manufacture clothes from Cotton himself. That is why he set up Empress Mill in Nagpur in 1877 and started manufacturing. But there was a problem, the workers there were not very serious about their work. almost 20% of workers were absent every day, took weeks off, and were unable to work for long hours. Jamshedji found an innovative solution for this.

He launched a Provident Fund scheme for workers, meaning that now workers would get pensions after retirement. Secondly, he got medical insurance for the workers. and finally, he organized events like Family Day and Sports Day.

In these events, workers who performed well were rewarded in front of everyone. with all these initiatives, workers started feeling valued, due to which both their attendance and performance improved a lot.

Many of these schemes were so futuristic that no one in the whole world had implemented them till then. In 1880, Jamshedji saw that the demand for independence increased in India. Jamshedji believed that to become independent and to sustain independence,

India would have to become economically self-sufficient and all essential products would have to be manufactured in India So he started building more Indian businesses in different areas.

Entering to Farming and Jam Industry:

 He first started strawberry farming in the hills of Panchgani, the impact of which was such that even today Panchgani is known for strawberry farming and jam factories.

Tata Silk Farm Organization:

Jamshedji also observed that the weather of Bangalore and Mysore is similar to France, so he brought silkworms bred in France to India.

He bought lands in Bangalore and Mysore, started the Tata Silk Farm Organization, and got silkworm breeding done by local farmers.

It was through this initiative of his that India got popular products like Mysore Silk and Bangalore Mysore Silk Sarees.

Constructing Taj Mahal Hotel:

Jamshedji loved his hometown, Bombay, and knew that a world-class hotel was very important for the development of the city, so he started building.

The Taj Mahal Hotel in 1898. He participated in the construction and design process. his vision was that every room of the hotel should face the sea and the guests should feel as if they are floating in water in 1903, the hotel was opened to the public for the first time. It became the first building in Mumbai to run on light electricity.

Tata Steel:

Jamshedji took many such initiatives but his most impactful initiative was to start the steel business. in India, every industry like construction, railway, and manufacturing needed steel to develop.

So his dream was to open a steel plant in India. He spent 17 years of his life searching for high-quality iron ore in various places in India because iron is the most important raw material for making steel.

But sadly Jamshedji had to face continuous failures. Then ultimately in 1899, he found rich iron ore reserves in Bengal province after which he immediately started iron ore mining and set up a steel plant.

Unfortunately, Jamshedji could not see steel being made in India himself because he breathed his last in 1904 at the age of 65. Jamshed ji’s vision and dreams were so grand that it was not possible to fulfill them all during his lifetime.

Dorabji Tata Era:

So his son Dorabji Tata took the responsibility of fulfilling all his other dreams. Jamshedji believed that India was lagging far behind Western countries in scientific research and education.

He wanted to establish an institution in India that would produce world-class researchers and scientists. So Dorabji Tata took the help of the Maharaja of Mysore and established it.

The Indian Institute of Sciences:

 The Indian Institute of  Science in Bangalore in 1909. Nobel laureate CV Raman became the first director of IISC.

Later, IISC made important contributions to the development of India’s first supercomputer PARAM,

and India’s first Indigenous aircraft, “The Hansa”.

Just as IISC produced world-class scientists and researchers who transformed India, similarly, India today needs business leaders who can build businesses and take the country’s economy to the next level. to create these business leaders, apart from education.

Tata Power:

Jamshedji also dreamed of a hydroelectric plant for electricity generation. in this project, power was to be generated using Dudhsagar Falls located on the Goa-Maharashtra border.

Dorabji involved 7,000 workers and built artificial lakes, dams, and channels. The plant was ready in 1911 and power generation began many mills and businesses in Mumbai started getting power from this power plant. and today we know this company as Tata Power.

Tata Steel Rise

Finally, Dorabji Tata also took the responsibility of completing the steel plant work started by Jamshedji. In 1907, he established a limited company and announced an IPO of Rs 23 crore for the steel plant at that time.

Due to the Swadeshi movement, about 8,000 people invested in it in just two weeks. The company was named Tata Steel and Iron Company i.e. TISCO. finally, in 1912, the first steel was produced by TISCO. Two years later, in 1914, World War 1 started and Britain’s steel demand shot up. They needed steel for tanks, trucks, railways, etc.

TISCO’s plant worked day and night and fulfilled this demand. After the war was over, The viceroy of that time acknowledged TISCO’s contribution. The town where TISCO’s plant was located was named Jamshedpur after Jamshedji and the railway station was named Tatanagar. Under Dorabji’s leadership,

Tata Group’s business had grown manifold. Dorabji Tata died in 1932, and before leaving he had diversified the Tata Group into businesses like steel, power, consumer products, banking, and insurance.

The era of JRD Tata:

After Dorabji Tata, a young member of the family, JRD Tata, became the chairman of the Tata Group in 1938 JRD Tata joined the business in 1925 and was learning work at the TISCO plant. He was always very interested in aviation.

Tata Aviation Service

So in 1932, he started Tata Aviation Services. This airline became the first airline in India to provide passenger and cargo transport services. Its first flight was flown by JRD Tata, after which he became India’s first-ever commercial pilot.

Tata Chemical:

After becoming the chairman, JRD Tata observed that India had to import essential chemicals like soda ash and caustic soda from abroad. These were chemicals that were very important for making essential products like glass, textiles, soaps, and detergents.

He wanted these chemicals to be produced in India itself. so in 1939, he built a chemical plant in Mithapur town of Gujarat and thus started Tata Chemicals, which even today manufactures Tata Salt. The chemicals business started doing well.

Foundation Of Air India:

But JRD still had a dream of growing the airline business. During World War 2, the British government seized all the planes due to which Tata Aviation Service was shut down overnight. But as soon as the war ended.

JRD decided to re-enter the airline business. and thus Air India was started in 1946. The crew of Air India was known for their warm and attentive services. the food, cleanliness, and in-flight entertainment of their flights were top-class.

Even their mascot was a Maharaja which reflected the Indian hospitality and royal standards of the airline. at the same time, Air India always ran according to the schedule. due to all this, Air India was known as one of the best airlines not only in India but also internationally.

JRD was growing Air India like his child but then something happened that took away this Air India from him in one stroke. after independence, the Indian Government adopted the socialist economic model which believed that important industries of the country like transportation should be under the control of the government.

So that these industries could focus on public service rather than profit. and that is why in 1953 Air India was nationalized i.e. taken under the control of the government. After nationalization, Air India started a tragic decline. Service, punctuality, and safety were negatively impacted due to which ultimately Air India lost its world-class airline status. But even after the setback of Air India, JRD Tata left no stone unturned to grow the Tata Group.

Foundation of Lakme:

He noticed that even after independence, there was no Indian cosmetic brand in the country so he started Lakme. Lakme is a French word which means Lakshmi in Hindi. JRD deliberately did not give this brand an Indian name.

He knew that Indian women were obsessed with foreign brands and considered them to be of high quality. so by giving the name Lakme, he gave this cosmetic brand an aspirational value of international level. But in reality, Lakme was still deeply connected to India.

Tata Locomotive:

JRD also bought a railway engine manufacturing factory in Jamshedpur and started Tata Locomotive and Engineering Company Limited which was later changed to Telco.

Foundation of Tata Motor:

Initially, Telco manufactured only steam engines for the railways but JRD soon expanded into truck manufacturing. He launched the Tata 407 truck which became very popular for its slim and strong design.

And beating international brands, it captured 70% market share. This Telco company which manufactured engines and trucks is now known as Tata Motors. apart from business, JRD Tata helped India in its most difficult times.

Role in Difficult Times:

During the 1962 Indo-China War and the 1965 Indo-Pak War, he assured the government of all kinds of support. He sent Tata engineers to Delhi so that they could help the country in military equipment manufacturing.

Service for Indian Air Force

He used his Air India experience and also built 10-year Defense Preparedness Plans for the Indian Air Force. This report included the requirement for signaling equipment, radar, and spare parts.

The government and the Indian Air Force got a lot of help from this report. Given these contributions of JRD Tata, the President of India gave him the posting of Honorary Air Commodore in the Indian Air Force.

End OF JRD Tata

By 1991, JRD Tata had increased the number of Tata Group companies to 84. There was a revenue of 24,000 crores and there were 2,70,000 employees.

But now at the age of 87, the time had come for him to hand over the command of the Tata Group to someone else.

The era of Ratan Tata:

So JRD Tata chose a promising member of the Tata family as the new chairman. This new chairman was Sir Ratan Tata. about 30 years before becoming the chairman, till 1962, Sir Ratan Tata was studying architecture in the USA.

When he received a letter from JRD Tata in which he was asked to come to India and join the business. Ratan Tata came to India and joined Tata Steel and started working there as a normal worker. seeing his dedication and business talent.

He started getting big responsibilities one after the other. Before becoming the chairman, he had made Empress Mill profitable. he had successfully resolved a major labor unrest in Telco.

The revenue of Tata’s Nalco company which made radios, televisions etc. was increased from Rs 3 crore to Rs 200 crore. When Sir Ratan Tata became the chairman in 1991, he knew that Tata Group was performing well from the outside.

But in reality, it was lagging in many things. He felt that the group was lagging far behind in high technology like computing and AI, and the group had not done anything unique for a long time.

He wanted to do something revolutionary for India through Tata Group. with this mindset, he saw that India did not have any such car whose design and production were done in India.

First Indigenous Car of India:

So in 1995, Ratan Tata decided to make a 100% Indian car. a car that is spacious, futuristic, affordable, and gives high mileage. but there was a problem, the cost of setting up a new manufacturing plant was around $2 billion, which was a huge amount at that time.

So Tata Motors thought of a solution and bought an old Nissan plant in Australia for one-fifth of the cost. This entire plant was dismantled and brought to India and rebuilt in Pune.

Ratan Tata himself played an important role in designing the car. and finally, the car was launched in 1998. It was an Indian car, so to name it, Indi was taken from Indian, and Ca was taken from ‘Car’, and by combining them, Indica was made, Tata Indica. after an automobile, Ratan Tata focused on technology.

Revised the TCS:

He observed that TCS’s focus was on providing administrative services to Indian companies, such as data entry and bookkeeping, which was a very basic level of work. That is why Ratan Tata shifted the focus of TCS from administrative services to software services, after which TCS started making customized software for India’s and even the world’s biggest organizations.

Ratan Tata also brought TCS’s IPO, which provided funding for the company to expand. Due to these steps, TCS is India’s biggest IT company even today. After the success of TCS,

Launching Tata Nano:

Sir Ratan Tata again focused on Tata Motors. He saw that the majority of India’s middle-class population cannot afford a car, so the whole family is forced to travel in a congested manner on a scooter, which is very uncomfortable and unsafe.

Sir Ratan Tata’s dream was to transition the Indian middle class from a scooter to a car. so he announced that he would launch a vehicle whose price would be only ₹1,00,000.

In 2009, keeping his promise, he launched Tata Nano at a price point of one lakh. But unfortunately, Nano turned out to be a failure.

The biggest advantage of Nano was its low price but this became its biggest disadvantage as well. In India, people see cars as a status symbol. anyone who owns a car is considered successful. but due to the low price of Nano and its design people branded it as the world’s cheapest car, matchbox, and even covered auto rickshaw.

Where other car owners felt proud of their cars, Nano owners felt embarrassed about their cars and hence Nano turned out to be a failure. But Tata Motors learnt a lot about consumer behavior from this failure which can be seen in their lineup today.

Learning From Mistakes:

Today Tata Motors has become the highest revenue-earning company of Tata Group.

Finally, Sir Ratan Tata deeply wanted that Indian companies should do business not only in India but all over the world. so to expand in the foreign markets, he started acquiring foreign brands one after the other.

For example, to expand Tata Motors in the global luxury market, he acquired Jaguar and Land Rover.

Expand to Global

To expand in the global tea and coffee market, he acquired the British brand Tetley and the US brand 8 O’Clock Coffee. Similarly, every major company of Tata like Tata Steel, TCS, Tata Chemicals, and IHCL also made acquisitions.

And today due to these decisions, more than half of the revenue of Tata Group comes from outside India. The list of achievements of the Tata Group under the leadership of Sir Ratan Tata is very long,

whether it is Titan making the world’s slimmest watch, TCS making one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, or disrupting the television market by launching Tata Sky,

Vision of Tata Group

Tata Group achieved success in almost every area. Sir Ratan Tata says that

“if you want to go fast, then go alone if you want to go far, then take everyone along.”

Tata Group has always done business with this philosophy. On one hand, it has built big companies and on the other hand, it has also built schools, colleges, and hospitals.

Tata Group has always taken its investors, its employees, its customers, and ultimately its country along. and that is why today they get many times more respect from people than the success they have got.