Mumbai Padma Vibhushan and eminent industrialist Ratan Tata died on Wednesday at the age of 87. Ratan Tata took the Tata Group to new heights and also helped the country a lot during all the troubles. From steel to software to the acquisition of the world’s biggest car company like Ford, during the era of Ratan Tata, Tata Group boosted the Indian economy through various industries.
Ratan Tata was born in the year 1937. His parents separated in his childhood and Ratan Tata was raised by his grandmother till the age of 10. Ratan Tata was sent to America in the year 1955 to study engineering and architecture. He returned to India in 1962 and was appointed to a small position as an assistant in the Tata Group. As an assistant, Ratan Tata also had to work on the furnaces of Tata Steel factory located in Jamshedpur. It was here that he learned the intricacies of the work. Then in 1974, Ratan Tata was appointed as a director in Tata Sons. Ratan Tata became the chairman of Tata Sons in the year 1981. Then in 1991, he was made the Chairman of Tata Trust along with Tata Sons. Ratan Tata was also the Chairman of Air India from 1986 to 1989. Only last year Ratan Tata had purchased Air India from the Government of India. Ratan Tata was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2008. Due to increasing age, he stopped overseeing the affairs of the Tata Group in 2012, but remained the Honorary Chairman of Tata Sons till his death.
Ratan Tata was very fond of flying planes. He even flew the American-made F-18 Hornet fighter plane in 2008 at the age of 69. Ratan Tata, who acquired the world famous car manufacturer Ford’s brands Jaguar and Land Rover, prepared small cars named Nano and Indica for the common people of India. The special thing is that when his car business was not doing well, he wanted to sell the company to Ford, but the company’s chairman Bill Ford said a favor to him. This thing irked Ratan Tata and he decided not to stop the car manufacturing business and eventually acquired Ford as well. Tata Group touched tremendous heights during the era of Ratan Tata. World famous software companies like TCS also started during the era of Ratan Tata. Ratan Tata also made a film named ‘Aitbar’ in the year 2004. Amitabh Bachchan was in this film. The film was not successful. After which Ratan Tata did not make any film again. Ratan Tata always stood with the country in difficult times. At the time of Corona, he had given Rs 500 crore to the government. Ratan Tata loved dogs very much. In Mumbai, he built a 5-storey hospital for the treatment of dogs and even took a dog to America for hip replacement when its hip was broken.