Veteran industrialist and Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata died at the age of 86 on Wednesday. He was admitted to Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital since Monday due to a sudden drop in blood pressure and was in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
In what was his last interaction on social media on Monday (October 7), Tata asked people to refrain from speculating over of his hospitalisation. He said there is no cause for concern regarding his health and he is undergoing check-ups for age-related medical conditions.
A visionary and a prominent philanthropist, Ratan Tata led the Tata Group from March 1991 to December 2012 as chairman of Tata Sons, which is the holding company of the salt-to-steel conglomerate. He took the Tata Group to new heights and, thanks to him, it is now worth more than $365 billion (Rs 30.7 lakh crore approx) as on March 31, 2024.
According to the Tata Group website, in 2023-24, the Tata companies, or enterprises, together generated a revenue of over $165 billion (Rs 13.9 lakh crore approx). These 30 companies, which collectively employ over 10 lakh people, include Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Motors, Indian Hotels, Air India, Jaguar Land Rover, Titan, Infiniti Retail (Croma), Trent (Westside, Zudio, Zara) among others.
Ratan Tata took over as the chairman of the Tata Sons in March 1991 and retired on December 28, 2012. Upon assuming leadership, he aggressively sought to expand it.
During his tenure, the Tata Group’s revenues grew manifold, totalling USD 100.09 billion in 2011-12 from a turnover of a mere Rs 10,000 crore in 1991. He led the group into some notable acquisitions, starting from Tetley by Tata Tea for USD 450 million in 2000, to steelmaker Corus by Tata Steel in 2007 for GBP 6.2 billion and the landmark Jaguar Land Rover in 2008 for USD 2.3 billion by Tata Motors. As a result of these acquisitions, over half of the group’s revenues were derived from outside the country.