The Tata name is synonymous with modern India, appearing in everyday products-from the tea that starts each morning to the buses that facilitate daily commutes and the hotels where many unwind. The passing of Ratan Tata, patriarch of this influential conglomerate, marks a poignant moment for a nation that recognizes his profound impact on its private sector.
Ratan Tata started his journey way back in 1990, the significant year as India began to open up the economy. He guided Tata Group away from the traditional basis of steel and chemicals toward small cars and information technology as the economy in India shifted from a state-driven model of growth toward consumer demand and services. The success of Tata Consultancy Services culminates the supremacy of this transition.
Challenges pervade the broader narrative of India’s shift into a services-led economy. So far, it has not generated adequate employment opportunities or economic security for the many. Current government efforts to revive manufacturing, with the support of industrial policies, is hindered by the high-cost, uncompetitive sector that finds it difficult to adjust.
The agenda of the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has been largely on tariffs and subsidies to see that the home manufacturers are not harmed rather than improved productivity. Instead, Tata put much more emphasis on global engagement. He had invested TCS profits into new ideas such as the purchase of Jaguar Land Rover and semiconductor plants, with a mixed outcome.
Tata’s moves were sometimes contentious, such as in overpaying for the Corus Group, but did reflect a belief in India’s future status on the world stage. His willingness to build a car factory in Gujarat with Modi in place indicated that even private sectors had confidence in a political figure who was still controversial.
As India moves forward in its economic journey, it would do well to remember Ratan Tata’s legacy: aim big, don’t look inward. Tata measured everything he did against international standards and propagated a vision that companies should manufacture for the global market.
Growing up in Jamshedpur, a testament to Tata’s vision with its world-class facilities, I had witnessed firsthand the potential of what India could achieve. Even though the country hasn’t yet fully realized that promise, it is Tata’s legacy that continues to inspire belief in its possibilities.
