Ratan Tata News: Ratan Tata, the Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, helped transform the business house into a global conglomerate, and its an established fact that many of the business decisions Ratan Tata took during his illustrious career as the head of the Tata Group, changed business world, not only in India, but on a global scale.
In 2008, Tata Motors under the leadership of Ratan Tata, bought luxury car company Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) from American car giant Ford Motors for $2.3 billion. The move, which is often seen as Ratan Tata’s revenge on Ford after the latter had turned down an offer to buy Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle. During the tussle, a top official at Ford had reportedly berated Ratan Tata for his alleged “lack of knowledge” about the car-making business.
Another major move by Tata Motors under Ratan Tata, was the launch of Tata Nano, a budget-friendly car launched in 2008 at a small price of Rs 1 lakh. However, the Nano proved to be a bust, selling only 74,527 units till 2012, till it production was stopped in 2018 due to low sales. However, despite its failure, Tata Nano paved the way for budget-friendly cars targeted at India’s lower middle-class.
During Ratan Tata’s leadership, Tata Group forayed into the consumer telecom sector as Tata Teleservices and Japanese provider NTT Docomo combined to form Tata Docomo in November 2008, rapidly becoming a major player in the Indian telecom market thanks to its attractive tariffs and strong network.
However, the company suffered losses due to cutthroat competition in the telecom sector due to which NTT Docomo left the joint venture, forcing the company to close its doors in 2017 when it was acquired by Bharti Airtel.
Tata Group, under the visionary leadership of Ratan Tata, entered the defense sector in 2007 through Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), becoming one of the first private companies in India to enter the defense sector.
In a major decision, Tata Group under Ratan Tata’s guidance, acquired Air India in 2022, changing the fate of India’s national carrier which seemed at the brink of collapse at the time due to severe financial difficulties. Tata Group bought Air India for Rs 18,000 crore and is currently revamping the beloved carrier. According to reports, Air India’s losses reduced to by 60 percent to Rs 4,444 crore in FY24.
Ratan Tata, arguably the most beloved billionaire in India, passed away on late Wednesday night at the age of 86. Ratan Tata’s demise, which has sent the whole country into mourning, was confirmed by Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran in a statement, describing the beloved business tycoon as a “friend, mentor and guide”.
