How Ratan Tata Built an Empire

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The amazing story of how Ratan Tata built an empireLast updated on: October 21, 2010 08:19 IST

He's packing his bags -- again. December 2012, whenhe turns 75, is the third scheduled retirement for RatanTata.The Tata Group has been at this inflection point twiceearlier, and stepped back both times. In 2002, when Tatawas to retire at 65, the Tata Sons board promptlyredesignated him non-executive chairman, which meant hecould continue for another five years.Three years later, the board upped the retirement age ofnon-executive directors to 75. The message is clear: RatanTata is indispensable.And it's not just the board that feels that way. There wereloud cries of support from shareholders at the Tata SteelAGM in August, held soon after the announcement thatTata Sons had created a panel to find Tata's successor."We can't lose our ratan (jewel)," said one shareholder,while others asked him to stay on as chairman emeritus.

Whether or not he acknowledges it openly, Tata must be feeling vindicated by this public recognition of his worth. When he tookover as Tata Group chairman on March 25, 1991, critics were loud and unrestrained in their disapproval and scepticism.Ratan Tata was considered to have gained his position purely on the strength of his surname; he was incompetent, ragedopponents both within and outside Bombay House, and he didn't possess an iota of the charisma of his uncle and predecessor,JRD Tata.Nearly 20 years later, Ratan Tata has achieved almost everything on his 1991 agenda. At Rs 3.46 lakh crore (Rs 3.46 trillion), TataGroup revenue is 40 times the 1991 level, while net profit has gone up four times.Click NEXT to read on . . .

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It is the largest Indian multinational conglomerate; more than 65% of the group's income comes from overseas and it has 98operating companies (28 listed) spread across 56 countries in six continents.In the past decade -- the decade that marked the glorious years of Ratan Tata -- nearly $18 billion was shelled out to acquire 22companies worldwide, including Tetley Tea and Corus Steel in the UK, New York's Pierre Hotel and Jaguar Land Rover.The Tata Group includes India's largest private steel company, the biggest auto manufacturer and the largest IT outsourcing firm."Ratan Tata outperformed JRD. He toppled people as strong as Russi Mody, thought out of the box and came up with path-breaking concepts like the Nano," says Bala V Balachandran, faculty member at Kellogg School of Management, and dean of theGreat Lakes Institute of Management.Not bad going for a man who was once likened to the clown in a circus (by his loudest detractor, Russi Mody). For Tata's successor-- whoever that turns out to be -- the bar's been raised sky high."Tata's job is the most difficult one in the country today. Whoever runs the Tata Group has to provide strategic leadership, directionand inputs on multiple businesses, which is hugely challenging," says Rajeev Gupta, managing director of private equity firm Carlyle

India.The new chairman may be relieved of the responsibility ofrunning individual companies, but he or she will have tohead a team of extraordinarily talented and able leaders.Not only will the heir have to ensure continuation of thegroup's growth momentum, but also provide the directionand vision for future growth. It's not an easy task. But then,nor was Tata's.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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The amazing story of how Ratan Tata built an empireLast updated on: October 21, 2010 08:19 ISTA shaky start

Left to himself, Ratan Tata would probably have stayed on in the United States after training as an architect at Cornell University.But the son of deputy group chairman Naval Tata and the nephew of JRD Tata couldn't be allowed to work outside the group (hehad an offer from IBM).In 1962, Ratan joined the family business, working on the Tata Steel shopfloor at Jamshedpur, just one of several thousandemployees.He got his first independent assignment less than a decade later -- as director of National Radio and Electronics (Nelco), in 1971 --but it was a mixed blessing. Nelco was in dire straits when Ratan came on board -- losses of 40% and barely 2% share of theconsumer electronics market.Just when he turned it around, the Emergency was declared. A weak economy and labour issues compounded the problem andNelco was quickly near collapse again.

Ratan's next assignment was just as trouble-stricken. He was asked to turn around the sick Empress Mills. He did, but was refusedthe Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) investment required to makethe textile unit competitive. Empress Mills floundered andwas finally closed in 1986 (by which time the infamousMumbai textile workers' strike had also taken its toll).The two 'failures' haunted Ratan for decades. His trackrecord was suspect, he was jinxed, said his baiters. "Myfirst directorship was that of Nelco and the status of thatcompany has forever been held against me. No onewanted to see that Nelco did become profitable, that it wentfrom a 2% market share to a 25% market share," Tata saidseveral years later.The attacks became more vicious after 1981, when JRDstepped down as Tata Industries chairman, naming Ratanhis successor -- in one leap, Ratan had moved to the headof the queue for eventual leadership of the entire TataGroup, and that was completely unacceptable to many.So much so, that at one Tata Sons meeting, when Nelco'slosses were being blamed on Ratan (although he came tothe company much later), JRD had to step in and deflectthe criticism.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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Later, recalling the incident, Ratan was to remark, "Jehcame to my rescue and slowly turned around the wholeconversation."But even JRD's backing wasn't enough to help Ratan achievemany of his ambitions for the group. Foreseeing expansion ofcapital markets, which meant easier access to money for newprojects, Ratan helped draw up a group strategic plan in1983.Among other things, it emphasised venturing into hi-techbusinesses; focussing on select markets and products;judicious mergers and acquisitions; and leveraging groupsynergies.Accordingly, Ratan promoted seven hi-tech businesses underTata Industries in the eighties: Tata Telecom, Tata Finance,Tata Keltron, Hitech Drilling Services, Tata Honeywell, TataElxsi and Plantek.But elsewhere in the group, his blueprint gathered cobwebsas companies -- many of which were run by their CEOs asindependent fiefdoms under JRD's benevolent leadership --blatantly ignored it or at best, paid lip service to the 1983plan.New businesses and M&As in these companies, if theyhappened, occurred independent of Ratan, not because ofhim.Ratan's spell of bad luck continued -- even as his successesgrew. He was steadily finding a place on the board of many

group companies, having become a director at Tata Sonsback in 1974.In 1988, he took over from Sumant Moolgaokar as Telco chairman -- and promptly found himself at the centre of a prolonged labourdispute, perhaps the worst industrial relations slide in Tata history.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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Ratan stood firm and eventually the matter was resolvedin the company's favour. In an interview some years ago,Ratan recalled that Telco was "the first company in which Icould actually do something. In other companies, I wasalways put in a fire-fighting situation."Back against the wallTaking over from JRD as group chairman in 1991 didn'tresolve matters either, even though it was a Tata Sonsboard decision to make him group chairman.Tata Group historian R M Lala recalls speaking with JRDsome 10 days after the announcement and asking whetherRatan had been chosen because of his integrity."Oh no, I wouldn't say that; that would mean the others didnot have integrity," JRD replied. "I chose him because ofhis memory. Ratan will be more like me."JRD may have seen his own reflection in his successor butothers, both inside and outside Bombay House, did not, atleast initially. "Who expected Ratan Tata to become such atowering figure in his own right? The first three or four

years were engaged in struggles with the satraps," says Lala.Individual company heads were larger-than-life personalities in their own right, and had ruled these satraps for decades: RussiMody at Tata Steel, Darbari Seth at Tata Chemicals, Ajit Kerkar at Indian Hotels, and Nani Palkhivala at ACC. Getting them to toe agroup line and work in tandem with other companies was next to impossible.It didn't help that they were more experienced and, many believed, more deserving than Ratan to head the group. Indeed, in aninterview a few years ago, Ratan recalled his surprise on hearing of his appointment: he had thought Palkhivala and Mody to beneck-and-neck in the race for the top post.As it happened, Palkhivala's political views and Mody's clashes within the group worked against them. Mody, though, continued tobe a thorn in the flesh of both JRD and Ratan. His battles with Ratan were loud, acrimonious and conducted in full public view,which went against the ethos of this low-key business house -- an inside joke at the time was that Russi Mody had become Rude-iMody. JRD finally dismissed him in 1993.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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Ratan enforced the long-dormant retirement age rule forall business heads and directors, which effectively dealtwith Seth and Kerkar (ill-health hastened Palkhivala'sdeparture).But the crown remained shaky for several years -- therewas conjecture as late as 1997 that Shapoorji PallonjiMistry would oust Ratan and take over the mantle of TataGroup head. (Mistry is the single largest shareholder inTata Sons and, incidentally, the father-in-law of Noel Tata,Ratan's half-brother and the frontrunner in the currentsuccession race.)Business as unusualTo his credit, Tata didn't let the criticism and internecinebattles deflect him from his chosen path. On taking over in1991, he dusted off the 1983 plan and updated it, takingthe newly-opened economy into account.Now, the thrust was equally on technology-drivenleadership, global competitiveness and being among thetop three domestically, regardless of the line of business.That meant rationalising the Tata business structure. The

remnants of the era of government controls combined with independent functioning of group companies in decades past could beseen in the way the group had grown till then -- unstructured, with overlapping business across multiple companies.When Ratan took over, there were three group companies manufacturing cement; five were involved in pharmaceuticals, while ninecompanies operated in the IT space. One of his first acts was to sell Tomco; swift exits from pharma and textiles and, later, cement,followed.Management consultancy McKinsey was brought on board to help with the reorganisation. The Tata Group is still a diversified, salt-to-software group, but now there is a method to the business expansion.Tata also paid attention to brand Tata. By 1998, there was a single group logo and the Tata brand belonged to Tata Sons. Now,companies needed to sign brand equity and business promotion agreements with Tata Sons before they got use of the brand name.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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And Ratan was choosy about its use (stepmother Simone's cosmetics business, Lakme, which was later sold, and half-brotherNoel's retail business didn't make the cut).Zia Mody, managing partner at law firm AZB & Partners, which has advised the Tatas on acquisitions like Corus and Jaguar LandRover, believes the group-culture Ratan Tata has created will stay on as his legacy."He has institutionalised processes. The reputation of the group and its guiding principles are uppermost in his mind while takingdecisions," she points out.Business historian and writer Gita Piramal has a different take on Ratan Tata's legacy. "Tata put 'design' into the group -- inmergers and acquisitions, engineering or cars or anything else. It is a very forward-looking strategy, putting new competency in veryold companies," she says.Ratan the managerPerhaps the secret of Ratan Tata's success lies in his ability to think big -- and small. While he guides the Tata Group to pick up theluxurious Pierre Hotel in New York, he's also driving the launch of the budget Ginger hotels in India.He has the ability to envisage an automotive business that encompasses diverse businesses such as the iconic Jaguar and LandRover marques on the one hand, the world's cheapest car the Nano, on the other, and hardy, rough-road trucks sandwiched inbetween.

JRD is admired for creating world-class companies that could be globally competitive at a time when India was still not thinkingscale and was instead leaning towards a socialist set up.In contrast, Ratan had the vision to foresee the directionthe economy -- and policy -- was taking, consolidate thebusiness accordingly, and embrace change to leap ahead.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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The group was totally unprepared for liberalisation, whichwas knocking on the door when he took over. Ratan knewthe Tatas required a radical change in mindset and he setout to work in that direction.He streamlined the organisation by selling somebusinesses and rationalised the processes and functioningof the Tata Group.That explains why it still remains among the top threebusiness groups in the country while many have fallen bythe wayside -- or dropped in the rankings -- in the post-liberalisation era.Yet almost none of this change came at the cost of peopleor employee morale. Be it the fixing of a retirement age forvarious employees or the creation of a close-knit group thatcould meet the group's ambitions, Ratan created a nimble-footed organisation.Insiders say that those who were asked to leave were

given full salary till the age of 60.It's no secret that the genesis of the Tata Group's blockbuster moves can be traced to him. Tata's first global venture -- the February2000 purchase of Tetley -- had begun five years earlier when Ratan Tata made a $318 million bid for the tea company.That didn't work out, but Ratan didn't lose heart and kept an eye on the company's activities. The deal was finally clinched at $430million. Sheer perseverance may have made that deal come true.The Corus deal is also a telling example. A close associate recalls Ratan calling Tata Steel MD B Muthuraman, who was on a trip toHong Kong. "I've learnt that Corus is up for sale. Do you think we can look at it?" he asked. After some thought, Muthuraman replied

that they could perhaps pick up a strategic stake.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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Ratan had different plans. "We must buy that company.Think it over," he advised. The next morning, Muthuramancalled Tata to say he was game. With no disrespect toMuthuraman and other leaders who have spearheaded thevarious companies in the group, it must be said that suchgutsy deals can't be done without a strong group backingor reputation.The Corus deal is proof of the kind of goodwill the TataGroup has created for itself across the world, not just withinthe country. Unlike the Mittal Steel bid for Arcelor, whichcreated a huge furore, the Tata bid faced little opposition.Although the Anglo-Dutch company had several plants inthe United Kingdom, there was little attempt to stop thedeal by either political parties or trade unions. The Corusmanagement was happy to support the deal, placing itsfaith in the group's reassurance that there would be nolayoffs and that pension shortfalls would be taken care off.Not just that. Given that Tata Steel was bidding for acompany four times its size, it could not have funded theentire deal. In fact, the company put up just 25% of the

equity; the rest was funded through foreign debt.And even that was to be funded only through cash flows from Corus, with no recourse to Tata Steel -- a reflection of the credibilitythe group enjoyed in global financial markets.Tata's big deals are balanced by projects focusing on the lowest common denominator. In fact, Tata has been among the very fewto perfectly understand the pysche and the needs of the Indian consumer -- and build successful businesses around those insights.That is, by recognising that the big market opportunity lies in making desirable products affordable for a larger audience andcreating successful products to cater to a market need -- be it the passenger-car foray with the Indica in the early 1990s, thepromise to create a Rs 1 lakh (Rs 100,000) car or for that matter, making water filters that don't need electricity (for rural areas).Hemendra Kothari, the doyen of investment banking in India who has worked on most Tata Group deals, has watched Tata'sworking style closely. "He is a very discerning person when it comes to decision-making. And once he has made up his mind, he isprepared to go all out to achieve his objective, be it Corus or Nano," he says.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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Ratan's folly

Still, the markets have usually considered Tata to be outof his depth, questioning -- and dismissing -- his big, boldmoves as 'Ratan's follies'.The Indica was the first. People scoffed openly, when, in1995, Tata spoke of building a passenger car with "theZen's size, the Ambassador's internal dimensions and theprice of a Maruti 800".The scepticism seemed justified as project costs escalatedto Rs 1,700 crore (Rs 17 billion) and Tata Motors postedRs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) in losses -- the biggest splash ofred in Indian balance-sheet history."Even within Tatas, people kept asking me to distancemyself from the project so that when it failed I wouldn't bestuck with the blame. And when I refused to do that, theydistanced themselves from me," Tata said in an interview afew years ago.Ratan proved his detractors wrong, and how. Indica went

on to become Tata Motors' great success story -- about a million units have been sold since its 1998 launch.The group's global ambitions were greeted with similar scepticism. The Corus deal would lead the group to bankruptcy, criticsdeclared: investors dumped Tata Steel shares after the announcement, and the share price plunged 11%.And Tata was driving straight to disaster with the Jaguar-Land Rover deal: the brands were troubled, demand was low. Tata wenton to prove everyone wrong. The group's international acquisitions are doing well, some have started making money.When Tata took over, less than 5% of the group's revenues came from overseas. As the self-consciousness eased, the confidencegrew. And with it, the scale of ambition.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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The Ratan Tata of 15 years ago would never have gonefor broke on deals like Corus and JLR. The JLR deal wasaudacious. Tata's interest was sparked as soon as thebanks told the group that the marques were available.Why? According to him, "First, as Tata Motors in thenumber two SUV builder in India, owning [Land Rover] thegold standard of SUVs would be an enormous benefit tous. Second, to own a luxury brand with an immense historyand heritage such as Jaguar is a virtually irresistibleopportunity."There's a personal angle to the "immense history": Ratan'sfather Naval was one of five people in India who tookdelivery of a new Jaguar XK120 in the late 1940s. "Iremember the XK with great nostalgia," Tata commentedto a Jaguar team. "I particularly remember the instrumentson the dashboard and how stylish they looked."Less than two weeks after the $3-billion deal was inked,Tata flew into the US on his private jet to meet Jaguar and

Rover dealers across the country; for many dealers, it was their first ever interaction with a company executive.Several years ago, in an interview, Tata dismissed the notion that he was a risk-taker. "There have been certain occasions when Ihave been a risk taker. Perhaps more so than some, and less so than certain others. It is a question of where you view that from. Ihave never been speculative. I have never been a real gambler in the sense that some very successful businessmen have been,"

he said.Going by that logic, Ratan's 'follies' were decisions guided by prescience and not instinct and gut feel.Of course, he's not perfect. Ratan Tata personally, and the Tata Group in general, have been bogged down by their share ofcontroversies. When it comes to the environment, especially, the group gets a "can do better" grade.In recent years, Tata Steel's joint venture with Larsen & Toubro to construct a port at Dhamra, Orissa, has come under the scannerfor its proximity to two protected areas, one of which is the world's largest nesting site for the endangered Olive Ridley Turtle andthe other India's second-largest mangrove forest.A soda ash extraction plant in Tanzania also came under fire because of the threat it poses to a nearby lake and its flamingopopulation.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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Tribal rights have also been a touchy subject. In 2006,several tribals were killed while protesting a wall being builtby Tata Steel on land that was historically theirs. AndRatan Tata's pet Nano project was mired in controversyabout land acquisition for the factory. After farmers inSingur, West Bengal, protested about forcible evictions andinadequate compensation, and Mamata Banerjee leapt intothe fray, the Tatas pulled out of the state.The company shifted the factory to Sanand, Gujarat, butRatan Tata's subsequent praise for controversial GujaratChief Minister Narendra Modi also drew criticism.Situation vacantIt will be some months before even the shortlist for Ratan'ssuccessor is known. It's anybody's guess who will finallymake the cut, but the qualities expected of this paragon arefairly clear to all.In an interview a few years ago, Ratan had drawn up asomewhat simplistic checklist: someone "younger", ideallyin his 40s, who believes in Tata values, demonstratesmanagerial ability and has the vision to run the Tata Group.More recently, he also spelled out what the person doesn'tneed to be: a Tata, Parsi, or even Indian. "The successorshould be the right person," was his emphasis at the TataChemicals AGM in August.For the record, in its 142-year history, the Tata Group hashad only five chairmen, all of whom were Parsis. The onlynon-Tata to make it to the top was Nowroji Saklatwala, whowas chairman from 1932 to 1938. Of course, he was still

family: Saklatwala was Jamsetji Tata's sister's son."There will be a vacuum if a non-Tata person is at the top. Any new person without the Tata name starts with a huge disadvantage,"says Harish Bijoor, brand specialist and CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults.Still, considering there aren't too many Tatas around anymore, perhaps it does make sense to keep an open mind about candidatesfrom outside the family. But not outside the company, and certainly not outside the country, seems to be the majority opinion.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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Former Tata Steel CMD Russi Mody doesn't consider thelack of the right surname a handicap -- "I was a chairmanalthough I wasn't a Tata," he says -- but is quite sure thatonly a company man will do for the job."This is an Indian company and an Indian should beappointed chairman. A company man will have loyalty tothe group," he declares.Preety Kumar, managing partner at global executivesearch firm Amrop, gives the neutral observer's viewpoint."Internal succession always has smoother transition thanan external one. In some of our work, successorappointments have been made two or three years beforethe succession, which helps change perceptions," shesays.Sanjay Teli, MD of executive search firm ESP Consultants,adds that group acceptance of and support to the heirapparent is critical. "Ratan Tata's personality and thechanges he brought about helped attract the best talent tothe group. Retaining some of those people may become anissue in the future," he warns.Those and other important issues must be top of mind forthe selection committee as it searches for the idealcandidate. The five-member panel -- comprising Tata Sonsvice chairman NA Soonawala, group advisor ShirinBharucha, British businessman Lord Bhattacharya, TataSons director Cyrus Mistry and Indian Hotels vice chairmanR K Krishnakumar -- is expected to announce its choice byMarch 2011, which leaves room for a reasonably longhandover period.

The actual selection process isn't public, but it is known that Tata and other senior executives have given their inputs on what tolook for. "It's a scientific process," says a person familiar with the broad workings of the panel."The candidates will be evaluated on leadership qualities, management skills, operational performance and other criteria. There willbe a matrix and the top scorer will get the top job."As it happens, those are precisely the qualities that catapulted B Muthuraman to the top job at Tata Steel in 2001. When J J Irani'sretirement was imminent, three people were considered likely successors -- Muthuraman and T Mukherjee, both executivedirectors, and Firdose A Vandrewala, who was responsible for sales and marketing, as well as new business initiatives at thecompany.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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"Tata asked all three to prepare a presentation on the future of Tata Steel. Muthuraman's vision and roadmap was crisp, clearand the most appropriate," says a 30-year veteran of thecompany.Background and prior domain expertise aren't make-or-break criteria for Ratan Tata, perhaps because he's livingproof that track records can be deceptive or misinterpreted.Anil Sardana was CEO of North Delhi Power when he waspicked to lead Tata Teleservices (TTSL), a differentindustry altogether. He's already proved that the group'sconfidence in him was justified: from a user base of 15million in August 2007 when he took over, TTSL now has75 million.The old order changethIn many ways, the successor's task will be easier thanRatan's. It begins with the selection process itself. WhenRatan took over from JRD, it was a succession fraught withintrigue, suspense and bad blood.Resentment from established camps within the group at

what was seen as an arbitrary decision was only compounded by Ratan's own admission of surprise at the announcement. Theongoing selection process may be equally opaque -- at least, at present -- but there is some logic and purpose behind it, whichshould make the panel's decision easier to accept.The new chairman is also not likely to be battling cliques and fiefdoms within the group -- his predecessor has already taken care ofthat. Instead of the "corporate commonwealth" that Ratan inherited, the Tata Group now operates more or less as a cohesive unit,which will work to the successor's advantage.Besides, there is now frequent churn at the board-level as senior members attain retirement age -- most Tata Sons board membersare nearing 75, when non-executive directors have to retire. The heads of the three biggest companies in the group also retired lastyear: there's fresh blood at the top at Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Consultancy Services.Also, when Ratan took over, the Tata family had neither financial nor managerial control over many group companies. Indeed, atone point in the 1980s, the Birlas owned more stock in Tisco than the Tatas (through Tata Sons) did. That vulnerability to outsideinterference is now greatly reduced: Tata Sons' holding in most group companies is now around 26%, sometimes more.Clearly, the old order has changed. But some things will remain constant -- Tata stepped into the shoes of a giant in 1991. Hissuccessor will do likewise.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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The amazing story of how Ratan Tata built an empireLast updated on: October 21, 2010 08:19 ISTRatan Tata, the person

1937 Born in Mumbai on Dec 28.1962 Completes BSc in architecture from Cornell University.1962 Joins Tata Group.1971 Appointed Director of The National Radio & Electronics (Nelco).1974 Becomes a Director in Tata Sons.1975 Completes management programme from Harvard Business School.1977 Given charge of Empress Mills.1981 Named Chairman of Tata Industries.1984 Sale of Tomco1991 Takes over as group chairman from JRD Tata.

From driving cars to flying choppers, from charity to business strategy, Ratan Tata does it all, and he does it passionately. But,

despite being the cynosure of all eyes, very little is knownabout the Tata Sons chairman's personal life."He is a very private man. Even his closest business aidesknow little about what he does in his free time," says aveteran at the group.It's anybody's guess what Tata will do after he steps downfrom the country's top private sector job. Those who knowhim well believe he will indulge in all his pet interests,things he didn't have enough time for while helming theTata Group.A bachelor, Tata continues to live in a flat in Colaba, filledwith books and dogs. Cars and planes are his biggest --and perhaps, only -- indulgences. He has eight or nine carsin his stable, including a Chrysler Sebring, Land RoverFreelander and Indigo Marina. (There are rumours of ametallic blue Ferrari California and a Maserati also findingtheir way into his collection.)"Unfortunately, I do not get enough time to drive. Sunday iswhen I take my cars out. The cars that I really like, I tendnot to let my chauffeur drive," he said to an auto magazinealmost a decade ago.Now he'll have time to spend with his cars, as well as hisother mechanical passion, planes. Like his predecessorand uncle JRD Tata, Ratan is an accomplished pilot andflies both planes and helicopters.He made his first solo flight at 17 and enjoys piloting hisFalcon 2000. He has also flown the F-16 and F/A-18fighters, getting into their cockpits at the Aero India 2007show.Click NEXT to read on . . .


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"I've got a type rating [a licence that allows the holder to fly specific aircraft] for the Falcon business jet, but lately I've been gettingmore into flying helicopters. I love the engineering in them and they're challenging to fly well," he says.There's also likely to be more time for swimming and golf, post 2012. Tata used to scuba dive regularly, but punctured his eardrums"too many times". He's had to give that up, but still swims "a lot".Growing UpRatan Tata grew up in the lap of luxury -- in the south Mumbai mansion that now houses Deutsche Bank, driven to school in a RollsRoyce.All that was forgotten in the decade he spent in the US studying architecture at Cornell, taking on odd jobs -- including washingdishes -- to supplement the pittance that the Reserve Bank of India allowed as foreign exchange allowance.Returning to India and joining the Tata Group didn't mean any substantial improvement in his standard of living. Ratan's first jobswere on the Tata Steel shop floor in Jamshedpur, where he is believed to have done all manner of tasks, including shovelling coal

into the furnace. Which is perhaps why he retains thecommon touch, and focusses on innovations that will makethe lives of ordinary people easier.Although Ratan Tata will retire in 2012, he will continue tobe associated closely with the Tata Group -- nearly 60% ofthe group holding company is controlled by two charitabletrusts, the Sir Dorabji Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust.Tata heads both.That will mean that not only will he get the chance to sit inthe audience during group company AGMs and askquestions (as he said he'd like to do), he will also be ableto carry on the Tata family tradition of philanthropy."The Tata Group is associated with many charitableactivities. It is logical that Tata will increase his involvementin that work," says an insider.Tata may also spend a lot of time working with educationaland business organisations with which he is associated.Clearly, Ratan Tata will be a busy man even after movingout of the hot seat.


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