Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Tata Group

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Type
  
Private

Area served
  
Worldwide

Owner
  
Tata Sons

Founded
  
1868, Mumbai

Headquarters
  
Mumbai

Industry
  
Conglomerate

Customer service
  
022 6665 8282

Founder
  
Jamsetji Tata

Revenue
  
103.5 billion USD (2016)

Tata Group httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb8

Key people
  
Natarajan Chandrasekaran (Chairman)

Products
  
Airlines Automotive Consumer goods Chemicals Defence & aerospace Electrical distribution Engineering services Financial services Healthcare Information technology Locomotives Steel Telecommunication Real estate

Total assets
  
US$120.6 billion (2017)

Subsidiaries
  
Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Tata Steel

Profiles

Tata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded in 1868 by Jamshedji Tata and gained international recognition after purchasing several global companies. It is India's largest conglomerate. In 2015-16, the revenue of Tata companies altogether is $103.51 billion. These companies collectively employ over 660,000 people. Each Tata company or enterprise operates independently under the guidance and supervision of its own board of directors and shareholders. There are 30 publicly-listed Tata enterprises with a combined market capitalisation of about $116 billion as of March 2016. Tata companies with significant scale include Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Teleservices, Titan, Tata Communications and Taj Group.

Contents

About the tata group


Chairman

  • Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (1867–1904)
  • Sir Dorab Tata (1904–1932)
  • Nowroji Saklatwala (1932–1938)
  • Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (1938–1991)
  • Ratan Tata (1991–2012)
  • Cyrus Pallonji Mistry (2012–2016)
  • Ratan Tata (2016–2017)
  • Natarajan Chandrasekaran (Feb 2017 – )
  • Subsidiaries

    This section lists the Tata companies and details their business:

    Chemicals

    Consumer products

    Energy

    Engineering

    Information systems and communications

    Services

    Steel

    Philanthropy

    The Tata Group has helped establish and finance numerous research, educational and cultural institutes in India. The Tata Group was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2007 for philanthropic activities. Some of the institutes established by the Tata Group are:

  • Tata Cancer Hospital
  • The Tata Group has donated 2.20 billion ($50 million) to the Harvard Business School (HBS) to build an academic and a residential building on the institute's campus in Boston, Massachusetts. The new building will be called the Tata Hall and used for the institute's executive education programmes. The amount is the largest from an international donor to Harvard Business School

    One Tata project brought together Tata Group companies ( TCS, Titan Industries and Tata Chemicals) was developing a compact, in-home water-purification device. It was called Tata swach which means "clean" in Hindi and would cost less than 1000 rupees (US$21). The idea of Tata swach was thought of from the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which left thousands of people without clean drinking water. This device has filters that last about a year long for a family of five. It is a low-cost product available for people who have no access to safe drinking water in their homes. The advantage of this device is that it does not require the use of electricity.

    TCS also designed and donated an innovative software package that supposedly teaches illiterate adults how to read in 40 hours. "The children of the people who have been through our literacy program are all in school", says Pankaj Baliga, global head of corporate social responsibility for TCS.

    In 1912, Tata Group expanded their CEO's concept of community philanthropy to be included in the workplace. They instituted an eight-hour workday, before nearly any other company in the world. In 1917, they recommended a medical-services policy for Tata employees. The company would be among the first worldwide to organise modern pension systems, workers' compensation, maternity benefits, and profit-sharing plans.

    The charitable trusts of Tata Group fund a variety of projects, for example the Tata Swach and the TCS project. They founded and still support such cherished institutions as the Indian Institute of Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Tata Memorial Hospital. Each Tata Group company channels more than 4 percent of its operating income to the trusts and every generation of Tata family members has left a larger portion of its profit to them.

    After the Mumbai attacks, salaries of the attacked Taj Hotel employees were paid despite the hotel being closed for reconstruction. About 1600 employees were provided food, water, sanitation and first aid through employee outreach centres. Ratan Tata personally visited families of all the employees that were affected. The employee's relatives were flown to Mumbai from outside areas and were all accommodated for 3 weeks. Tata also covered compensation for railway employees, police staff, and pedestrians. The market vendors and shop owners were given care and assistance after the attacks. A psychiatric institution was established with the Tata Group of Social Science to counsel those who were affected from the attacks and needed help. Tata also granted the education of 46 children of the victims of the terrorist attacks.

    In 2013, the Tata group, through the Tata Relief Committee and the Himmotthan Society, an associate organisation of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, has been working in close collaboration with the Uttarakhand government to provide relief to the impacted local communities in three districts of the state. The relief activities, which include provision of food and household material, have so far covered over 65 villages and 3,000 families. In the first phase of relief, the group expects to reach over 100 villages. The Tata group also plans to implement long-term measures for the economic, ecological and resource sustainability of the affected communities and areas. The plan, currently under development, will be based on a baseline survey of impacted villages which is being carried out by teams from the Centre for Disaster Management at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, in collaboration with local organisations and communities.

    Controversies and criticisms

    The Tata group has also attracted several controversies and criticisms, including the following below.

    Munnar, Kerala

    The Kerala Government had filed an affidavit in the high court saying that Tata Tea had 'grabbed' forest land of 3,000 acres (12 km2) at Munnar. The Tatas, on the other hand, say they possess 58,741.82 acres (237.7197 km2) of land, which they are allowed to retain under the Kannan Devan Hill (Resumption of Lands) Act, 1971, and there is a shortage of 278.23 hectares in that. The then 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, later he had to abort the mission as there were many influential land grabbers and faced opposition from his own party.

    Kalinganagar, Odisha

    On 2 January 2006, policemen at Kalinganagar, Odisha, opened fire at a crowd of tribal villagers. The villagers were protesting the construction of a compound wall on land historically owned by them, for a Tata steel plant. Some of the corpses were returned to the families in a mutilated condition. When pushed for comment, TATA officials said the incident was unfortunate but that it would continue with its plans to set up the plant.

    Supplies to Burma's military regime

    Tata Motors reported deals to supply hardware and automobiles to Burma's military junta has come in for criticism from human rights and democracy activists. In December 2006, Gen. Thura Shwe Mann, Myanmar's chief of general staff visited the Tata Motors plant in Pune. In 2009, TATA Motors announced that it would press ahead with plans to manufacture trucks in Myanmar.

    Land acquisition in Singur

    The Singur controversy in West Bengal led to further questions over Tata's social record, with protests by locals and political parties (though the involvement of Mamata Banerjee's party is widely criticised as an act for political gains) over the forced acquisition, eviction and inadequate compensation to those farmers displaced for the Tata Nano plant. As the protests grew, and despite having the support of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) state government, Tata eventually pulled the project out of West Bengal, citing safety concerns. The Singur controversy was one of the few occasions when Ratan Tata was forced to publicly address criticisms and concerns on any environmental or social issue. Ratan Tata subsequently embraced Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, who quickly made land available for the Nano project.

    In a historic judgement on Aug 31st 2016, the Honorable Supreme Court of India set aside the land acquisition by West Bengal Government in 2006 to facilitate Tata Motors to set up its Nano plant, and directed the West Bengal government to take possession of the land and distribute it to the land owners within 12 weeks.

    Dhamra Port, Odisha

    On the environmental front, the Port of Dhamara controversy has received significant coverage, both within India and in Tata's emerging global markets.

    The Dhamra port, a venture between Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro, has come in for criticism for its proximity to the Gahirmatha Sanctuary and Bhitarkanika National Park, from Indian and international organisations, including Greenpeace. Gahirmatha Beach is one of the world's largest mass nesting sites for the Olive Ridley Turtle and Bhitarkanika is a designated Ramsar site and India's second largest mangrove forest. TATA officials have denied that the port poses an ecological threat, and stated that mitigation measures are being employed with the advice of the IUCN. On the other hand, conservation organisations, including Greenpeace, have pointed out that no proper Environment Impact Analysis has been done for the project, which has undergone changes in size and specifications since it was first proposed and that the port could interfere with mass nesting at the Gahirmtha beaches and the ecology of the Bitharkanika mangrove forest. Dhamra port stake has been hived off.

    Soda extraction plant in Tanzania

    Tata group, along with a Tanzanian company, joined forces to build a soda ash extraction plant in Tanzania. On the other hand, environmental activists are opposing 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.

    It could also jeopardise the Lesser Flamingo birds there, which are already endangered. Lake Natron is where two-thirds of Lesser Flamingos reproduce. 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 make up of the lake. Twenty-two African nations are against the creation of the project and have signed a petition to stop its construction.

    Data and intellectual property theft

    In April 2016, a U.S. Federal Grand Jury awarded Epic Systems a $940 million judgement against Tata Consultancy Services and Tata America International Corp. Filed Oct. 31, 2014, the charges accused Tata of, “brazenly stealing the trade secrets, confidential information, documents and data” and that the 6,477 unauthorized downloads could be used to enhance Tata's competing product, Med Mantra.

    Fire breakout at headquarters

    On 16 June 2016, a fire broke out at the corporate headquarters of the company in Mumbai. However, due to quick containment, no casualties were reported.

    References

    Tata Group Wikipedia