NEW DELHI: From acquiring a struggling British auto company and turning it around to launching the most affordable passenger car Nano, Ratan Tata, while being at the helm for 21 years, transformed the Tata Group into the global powerhouse it is today, expanding into diverse fields such as steel, automobiles, IT, and telecommunications.His tenure from 1991 to 2012 (and briefly from 2016 to 2017) was marked by big acquisitions, including Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Tetley, and Corus, which positioned the Mumbai-headquartered conglomerate on the world stage.The industrialist passed away on Wednesday at the age of 86 in Mumbai.While Tetley’s acquisition may not be as big as that of JLR or Corus, it certainly holds greater importance in making Tata a global brand. Ratan Tata led the acquisition of Tetley in 2020, which was then thrice as big as Tata Tea, for $430 million. The acquisition set the tone for a series of global acquisitions to follow.It was also around this time when Tata Motors’ passenger car division was rapidly becoming a household name, thanks to the thunderous success of the hatchback Indica (launched in December 1998). Tata Motors in no time became a tough competitor to Japanese, American and Korean car companies.He also led the public listing of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 2004 by launching India’s first $1 billion IPO by a private-sector company. At present, TCS is Tata Group’s most valuable and India’s second-largest company (in m-cap terms).
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