An industrialist, an aviator, a philanthropist and a legend, Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy (JRD) Tata headed the Tata Group, India’s largest business empire, for half a century at a time when India was mostly under what is known as the licence permit quota raj. When he died on November 29, 1993, in an India that had just opened up its economy to the world, the Tata Group was well poised to build on JRD’s formidable legacy.
Born in Paris to Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, a Parsi, and Suzanne Brière, a French woman, on July 29, 1904, JRD spent a good part of his childhood in France and spoke fluent French. Ratanji Dadabhoy was a cousin of the legendary Indian industrialist Jamsetji Tata.
JRD joined a school in Bombay but the family moved to London when his father joined the Tata firm. When his mother died, the rest of the family came to India, but JRD was sent to England, where he was keen to join Cambridge. But, being a citizen of France, he had to join the French army and enlist for a minimum of one year, according to a new law. Since he was fluent in both English and French he was transferred to a colonel’s office.
After the year was over, his father got him back to India where he joined the Tata company. JRD married Thelma Vicaji, the daughter of a lawyer, in 1930.
Fascinated with planes from an early age, JRD got the first pilot licence issued in India in 1929. In 1932, he founded the country’s first commercial airline, Tata Airlines, which later became Air India, India’s national carrier.
He nurtured the organisation until he was shown the door in 1978 by Morarji Desai, the then prime minister, a move that deeply hurt JRD. Criticising his dismissal, the British newspaper Daily Telegraph at the time called JRD a “legendary figure” who was “known to legions of executives around the world and envied by most for his success”.
But JRD’s enthusiasm for flying didn’t wane. In 1982, at the age of 78, he himself operated a refurbished vintage plane from Karachi to Bombay to re-enact the historic 1932 flight on its golden jubilee. When asked about the wisdom of handling an aircraft at his age, he replied: “Don’t I look young?”
JRD was elected chairman of Tata & Sons in 1938, when he was just 34. For the next 50 years he would head the group with its diverse interests in everything from engineering and power to steel and hospitality.
During his tenure as chairman, Tata Group’s assets grew from US$100 million to over US$5 billion, from 14 enterprises to 95 enterprises.
As trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, he oversaw the establishment and expansion of several landmark institutes such as the Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer, Research and Treatment; the Tata Institute of Social Sciences; and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
Among many other Tata firms, he founded Tata Motors in 1945 (it was called Telco earlier); and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 1968, both of which became leading players in their sectors. Tata Motors, whose products include passenger cars, trucks, and buses, registered a profit of $ 2.28 billion in 2012. TCS, an information technology services, business solutions and consulting company, registered a profit of $ 2.59 billion for the year 2012-13.
JRD received several awards and honours in his lifetime including the Tony Jannus Award and the Gold Air Medal of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale award for aviation; the Padma Vibhushan; and the French Legion of Honour. In 1992, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour.
JRD was known to value and respect his employees. Summing up his philosophy when it came to human resources, he said: “When a number of persons are involved I am definitely a consensus man…but that does not mean that I do not disagree or that I do not express my views…You have to adapt yourself to their ways and deal accordingly and draw out the best in each man. In 50 years I have dealt with a hundred top directors and I have got on with all of them. At times it involves suppressing yourself. It is painful but necessary. To be a leader you have got to lead human beings with affection.”
In a tribute to JRD in Outlook magazine in August 2002, Narayana Murthy, the then chairman of Infosys, wrote: “JRD was among the first to realise that employees are among the most important resources in any organisation. He introduced employee-friendly measures such as the eight-hour working day, free medical aid and workers provident scheme. Many of these subsequently have been adopted as statutory requirements by law.”
JRD was a prolific letter-writer, and wrote thousands of letters to a diverse range of people, often putting across his views frankly. In a 1955 letter to the socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, he wrote: “I must confess that I do not share your understanding of the capitalist system or its place in history....I believe that in most parts of the world the system of free enterprise, far from dying, will be given a new lease of life in recognition of its ability and willingness to serve the community well…”
JRD would often say that the reason why the Tata Group didn’t grow even faster when he was at the helm was because in a closed economy like India’s he was unwilling to indulge in unethical business practices. In a speech in 1992 given during a function organised by Tata employees to honour him for receiving the Bharat Ratna, JRD Tata spelt out his vision for India: “An American economist has predicted that in the next century India will be an economic superpower. I don’t want India to be an economic superpower. I want India to be a happy country.”
Also on this day:
1913 — Ali Sardar Jafri, Urdu writer and poet, was born
1962 — Sadanand Viswanath, Indian cricketer, was born
