A Jewel among the World Industrialists
I think that if India had not taken the socialist path but pursued a real free-market policy, without the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act, the Tatas would have been far, far higher than they ended up becoming,” said Ratan Tata in an article he wrote about Jamshedji Tata, the Founder of Tata Industries and JRD Tata, his predecessor.
How true.
The industrial development in the country became so staggered and bleak that C. Rajagopalachari, the last Governor General of India and a Bharat Ratna, founded Swatantra Party in 1959 to oppose Nehru’s socialist policies that had unleashed a government of “Licence and Permit Raj,” as he had called the Congress government. Those days there was a general belief that nothing would grow under a giant Banyan tree. And Nehru was a political Banyan tree. Naturally, Swatantra Party failed and soon exited.
Be that as it may, as we know, among the big industrial houses of those days, before Ambanis and Adanis appeared, much less were even heard of, there were only two names in the industrial map of India — Birla and Tata. Both are still the shining stars along with the new entrants — Ambani and Adani.
The one who was heading this Tata business and industrial house till 2017, Ratan Naval Tata, passed away on Oct. 9, 2024 at Mumbai. He was 86. Of course, Ratan Tata was the head of the flagship Tata Trust. Now it has been handed over to another Tata, his half-brother Noel Tata.
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