Tata Group

1868–1937

In 1870, with Rs.21,000 capital, he founded a trading company.[6] Further, he bought a bankrupt oil mill at Chinchpokli and converted it into a cotton mill, under the name Empress Mill, which he sold for a profit after two years. In 1874, he set up another cotton mill at Nagpur named Empress Mill. During his lifetime, in 1903, the company opened the Taj Mahal Hotel at Colaba waterfront as the first hotel with electricity in British India.

After Jamsetji's 1904 death, his older son Dorabji Tata became chairman.[6] Sir Dorabji established the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO), now known as Tata Steel in 1907. Marking the group's global ambitions, Tata Limited opened its first overseas office in London. Following the founder's goals, Western India's first hydro plant was brought to life, giving birth to Tata Power. Fulfilling yet another dream, the Indian Institute of Science was established, admitting its first group of students in 1911.

1938–1990

JRD Tata was made chairman of the Tata Group in 1938. Under his chairmanship, the assets of the Tata Group grew from US$101 million to over US$5 billion. Starting with 14 enterprises, upon his departure half a century later in 1988, Tata Sons had grown to a conglomerate of 95 enterprises. These enterprises consisted of ventures that the company had either started or in which they held a controlling interest. New sectors such as chemicals, technology, cosmetics, marketing, engineering, manufacturing, tea, and software services earned them recognition.[7]

In 1932, Tata founded its airline, known as Tata Air Services (later renamed Tata Airlines and then Air India).[8] In 1953, the Government of India passed the Air Corporations Act and purchased a majority stake in the carrier from Tata Sons, though JRD Tata would continue as chairman until 1977.

In 1945, Tata Motors was founded, first focused on locomotives. In 1954, it entered the commercial vehicle market after forming a joint venture with Daimler-Benz. In 1968, Tata Consultancy Services was founded.

1991–present

In 1991, Ratan Tata became chairman of Tata Group.[9] This was also the year of economic liberalization in India, opening up the market to foreign competitors.[10] During this time, Tata Group began to acquire several companies. Tata Group bought Tetley In February 2000. After that, it acquired Corus Group in 2007. The next year, the company's subsidiary Tata Motors launched the Tata Nano, presenting it as "the world’s most affordable car," and acquired Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company.[11]

In 2017, Natarajan Chandrasekaran was appointed chairman. He was instrumental in restructuring business verticals and increasing promoter stake ownership in companies. Under his leadership, the group made acquisitions through insolvency law and investments in e-commerce, expanded its airline business by winning a bid for Air India, and completely bought Air Asia India. He has mentioned the future strategy is to focus on healthcare, electronics, and digital.[12] Tata-owned Air India got approval to acquire AirAsia India nearly two months after putting forth the proposal. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the acquisition of the entire shareholding in Air Asia India by Tata-owned Air India.[13]

Former companies

• Tata Interactive Systems
• Tata Oil Mills Company and its subsidiary Lakmé Cosmetics
• Tata Petrodyne

Tata Trusts

Most of the philanthropic activities of the group are carried out by various trusts incorporated by the members of the Tata family.

• 1) Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Allied Trusts[34]
• 2) * Sir Dorabji Tata Trust
• 3) * Lady Tata Memorial Trust
• 4) * JRD Tata Trust
• 5) * Jamsetji Tata Trust
• 6) * Tata Social Welfare Trust
• 7) * JN Tata Endowment
• 8) * Tata Education Trust
• 9) * RD Tata Trust
• 10) * The JRD and Thelma J Tata Trust
• 11) Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Allied Trusts[35]
• 12) * Sir Ratan Tata Trust
• 13) * Tata Education and Development Trust
• 14) * Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust
• 15) * Bai Hirabai J. N. Tata Navsari Charitable Institution
• 16) * Sarvajanik Seva Trust

Munnar, Kerala

The Kerala Government filed an affidavit in the high court alleging that Tata Tea had "grabbed" 3000 acre of forest land at Munnar. The Tatas provided that they possessed 58741.82 acre of land, which they are allowed to retain under the Kannan Devan Hill (Resumption of Lands) Act, 1971, and there was a shortage of 278.23 ha in that. The Chief Minister of Kerala V.S. Achuthanandan, who vowed to evict all on government land in Munnar, formed a special squad for the Munnar land takeover mission and started acquiring back properties. However, the mission was aborted due to both influential landholders and opposition from Achuthanandan's own party.[49]

Kalinganagar, Odisha

On 2 January 2006, Kalinganagar, Tribal Orissa villagers protested against the construction of a new steel plant for Tata Steel on land historically owned by them. Some of the villagers had been evicted without adequate relocation. Police retribution was brutal: 37 protesters were injured and 13 killed, including 3 women and a 13-year-old boy. One policeman was hacked to death by a mob after police had opened fire on protestors with tear gas and rubber bullets. Family members of the deceased villagers later claimed that the bodies had been mutilated during post-mortem examinations.[50]

Supplies to Burma's military regime

In December 2006, Myanmar's chief of general staff, General Thura Shwe Mann, visited the Tata Motors plant in Pune.[51] In 2009, Tata Motors announced that it would manufacture trucks in Myanmar. Tata Motors reported that these contracts to supply hardware and automobiles to Burma's military were subsequently criticised by human rights activists.[52][53]

Singur land acquisition

The Singur controversy in West Bengal was a series of protests by locals and political parties over the forced acquisition, eviction, and inadequate compensation to those farmers displaced for the Tata Nano plant, during which Mamata Banerjee's party was widely criticised as acting for political gain.[54] Despite the support of the Communist Party of India state government, Tata eventually pulled the project out of West Bengal, citing safety concerns. Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, made land available for the Nano project.[55]

On 31 August 2016, in a historic judgement, the Supreme Court of India set aside the land acquisition by the West Bengal Government in 2006 that had facilitated Tata Motors' Nano plant, stating that the West Bengal government had not taken possession of the land legally, and were required to repossess and return it to local farmers within 12 weeks without compensation.[56]

Dhamra Port, Odisha

The Port of Dhamara has received significant coverage, sparking controversy in India, and in Tata's emerging global markets.[57] The Dhamra port, an equal joint venture between Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro, has been criticised for its proximity to the Gahirmatha Sanctuary and Bhitarkanika National Park by Indian and international organisations, including Greenpeace; Gahirmatha Beach is one of the world's largest mass nesting sites for the olive ridley turtle, and India's second largest mangrove forest, Bhitarkanika, is a designated Ramsar site, and critics claimed that the port could disrupt mass nesting at Gahirmtha beaches as well as the ecology of the Bitharkanika mangrove forest.[58][59] Tata Steel employed mitigation measures set by the project's official advisor, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the company pledged to "adopt all its recommendations without exception" when conservation organisations asserted that a thorough environmental impact analysis had not been done for the project, which had undergone changes in size and specifications since it was first proposed.[60]

Proposed soda extraction plant in Tanzania

In 2007, Tata Group joined forces with a Tanzanian company to build a soda ash extraction plant in Tanzania.[61] Environmental activists oppose the plant because it would be near Lake Natron, and it has a very high chance of affecting the lake's ecosystem and its neighbouring dwellers,[62] jeopardising endangered lesser flamingo birds. Lake Natron is where two-thirds of lesser flamingos reproduce.[63] Producing soda ash involves drawing out salt water from the lake, and then disposing the water back to the lake. This process could interrupt the chemical makeup of the lake.[61] 22 African nations signed a petition to stop its construction.[61]

Epic Systems trade-secret case judgement

In April 2016, a U.S. Federal grand jury awarded Epic Systems a $940 million judgement ($240 million in compensatory damages and $700 million in punitive damages) against Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata America International Corp. Filed 31 October 2014; the suit charged that a TCS employee had made "6,477 unauthorized downloads" while working at a hospital which "could be used to enhance Tata's competing product, Med Mantra."[37][64][65] In 2017, U.S. District Court Judge William Conley reduced the award to $420 million ($140 million in compensatory damages and $280 million in punitive damages) due to Wisconsin state law; the company stated that they would appeal the judgement, as "not supported by evidence presented during the trial and a strong appeal can be made to superior court to fully set aside the jury verdict.”[66] In 2020 the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the compensatory damages but recommended reducing the punitive damages to $140 million.[67] Epic further appealed this to the Supreme Court but certiorari was denied.[68]

2018 NCLT verdict

In July 2018, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which "adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies,"[69] issued a verdict in the company's favor on charges of mismanagement leveled in 2016 by ousted chairman, Cyrus Mistry.[70]