'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
'Instead of one or two families controlling 10% to 15% of GDP, it has to be broad based. Then, the resilience of the economy also will be higher.' 'Then, if something happens to one business, it will not hurt the economy badly.'
After months of discord, the Tata Trusts appear to be moving towards reconciliation, with recent reappointments and open exchanges signalling a return to cooperative governance.
Tata Sons, now debt-free, has asked the RBI to drop its 'upper-layer NBFC' tag and allow it to stay private.
Mehli Mistry is backed by three other trustees -- Pramit Jhaveri, Darius Khambata and Jehangir HC Jehangir -- against Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and the two vice-chairmen, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh.
Tata Trusts, which exerts decisive influence over India's most valuable conglomerate through its about 66 per cent stake of Tata Sons, finds itself in the midst of infighting among its trustees over board appointment and governance issues.
Clarity on Tata Sons' position on listing, as of 2025, would help define the future of the group better, irrespective of the RBI stand. As of now, the ball is in the RBI's court, and everyone is watching the space, points out Nivedita Mookerji.
A quiet but consequential power struggle has erupted within the storied 156-year-old Tata Trusts just a year after the death of group patriarch Ratan Tata on October 9, 2024.
The crash has dealt a blow to the conglomerate's efforts to turn around Air India, especially following its merger with Vistara in 2024.
Late Ratan Tata always ensured employees are taken care of along with the well-being of their families across the Tata Group companies, which shaped a number of leaders across the conglomerate, and there really was no one like him, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Monday. Recollecting his association with Tata (86) who passed away last week, in a post on networking platform LinkedIn, he wrote, "Anybody who met Mr Tata came away with a story about his humanity, warmth, and dreams for India. "There really was no one like him."
Bombay House is different from any other conglomerate's headquarters. While every visitor is frisked at the entrance of the colonial-era building, one should not be surprised to see a street dog stroll in nonchalantly. For decades, specific instructions have been issued to the staff to allow a free entry and exit for the strays who may want to come in.
Wagging its tail non-stop, the dog with a red collar refused to leave Tata's side, literally clinging to the spot next to the casket.
Bombay House will be closed for renovation - its first such closure in 93 years
After Rs 800 million makeover, Bombay House reopened on July 29, 2018. The earlier dull interior with low technology has given way to a lot more colour and vibrancy.
Indications are that the Tata Sons stand on listing of the company may come up for a discussion even if it's not part of the agenda
The attack followed a scuffle as the ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry arrived to chair the board meeting of Indian Hotels
Tata Indica, the Tata Group's big passenger car bet, was not delivering expected returns a year into its launch. Desperate, the Tata Motors brass, led by Ratan Tata, acceded to a meeting request from Ford Motors for a possible sale of the passenger vehicles division to the American auto major. Some people had advised Tata to sell the business, and the Ford officials came to Bombay House to hold talks.
"I mentioned to sir (Ratan Tata) that the son of a fellow army officer was handicapped below the waist and needed a job," he told PTI from Pune where he now lives. "Vijay Bisht, son of my then colleague in M&G area HQ Lt Col B S Bisht, had sustained severe leg injuries after falling from a horse and I came to know he was looking for a job," he added. Tata said the needful would be done. And it was.
According to the fire officials, the blaze broke out at around 9.30 am in the basement that houses a small office, a canteen, an auditorium, a changing room and power substation. The employees, identified as Farad Wadia, Eashwar Patel and Shashank Pawar were unable to find their way out due to the dense smoke and went to nearest window in the hope of finding air.
There were certainly qualities adhering to the Tata Group, which emanated from the persona of Ratan Tata. Most notable of these would be the low profile he maintained, which sharply contrasted the in-your-face celebrity status, celebration of wealth and pursuit of importance many of liberalised India's rich, love, notes Shyam G Menon.
"'His mantra was simple yet profound: Be number one or be ready to be wiped out. There's nothing in between," he used to say and it was a reminder for all to always aim high, to push boundaries, and to strive for excellence.
Ratan Tata was one of the world's most influential industrialists yet he never appeared on any list of billionaires. He controlled over 30 companies that operated in over 100 countries across six continents yet lived an unpretentious life. Ratan Naval Tata, who died at a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday night at the age of 86 years, enjoyed a perhaps unique status -- a corporate titan who was considered a 'secular living saint' with a reputation for decency and integrity.
Have You met Mr Tata, interacted with him? If you have, we would love to hear from you. Please mail your memories of your encounter with Mr Tata, complete with the date of the meeting, your full name, where you are based, what you do. And if you have a photograph of yourself with Mr Tata, please mail that too. Do mail your recollections to ReadersWriteIn@rediffmail.com
An exclusive excerpt from The Tatas: How A Family Built A Business And A Nation.
'He had a lovely, lovely, sense of humour, very subdued and very, very subtle, but it was very, very, prominent.'
'It is notable how humble he was and didn't want anything different just because he was a Tata.'
'He was a practical person who ensured that he thought about the common man, animals, the fact that they have a life and they have to be respected.'
'She was lying there and I mustered up enough guts to lay next to her and hold her tight.' 'And she said, "Oh my, Girish, isn't he supposed to be nervous?"' 'Making light of the situation, Girish said, "No, he's been practicing with a pillow the whole day".'
'What's sad today is that there are so many people who cannot find work, not because the country is devoid of that opportunity, but because we are not doing enough in the country.'
'I think some of us, like Mukesh Ambani, myself and those of us who head industrial units, ought to really focus on what we can really do to make the world a safer place, maybe 50 or 100 years from now.' 'For instance, how can we deal with climate change and global warming, right now?' 'The effects of it may not be felt now; in fact, we may pay a price for it today, but it will help the generations to follow.'
Bombay House turns evangelist for new Tata products.
Pallon has already joined the boards of some of the unlisted companies such as Afcons
What could be the reason for this swift change in less than four years of Mistry taking charge? People in the know said it was building up. The latest trigger was Tata Power's acquisition of Welspun Renewables' solar and power assets
Unless new members are inducted at jet speed, the strength of Tata Sons board will come down to four in July.
A naturally reclusive nature and a conviction for the work to do the talking meant there was very little known about Mistry even during his time at the helm of Tata Sons. He did not do a single media interview from Bombay House.
Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry was on Sunday killed in a road accident after his car hit a divider in Maharashtra's Palghar district neighbouring Mumbai, a police official said.
If Cyrus's protestations of having no knowledge of his imminent dismissal are to be taken at face value, he was extraordinarily naive and insulated from the ground reality. There were enough straws in the wind to suggest that his relations with Ratan were fast deteriorating to a point of no return.
Few people know Ratan Tata as well as R K Krishna Kumar does. Widely perceived to be among the managers closest to Tata, Krishna Kumar assesses Ratan Tata, the man and business leader, in this exclusive interview to Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
'He wanted to learn all the time.'
'Cyrus was also generous, hospitable, sharing of whatever he had.' 'He never ever acted like the inheritor of great wealth.'
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