History of Tata Company

Tata Company History

The Tata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was founded by Jamsetji Tata and gained international recognition after associating with several global companies.

Timeline of Tata History

• Year 1868 – Jamsetji Tata started a trading company with a capital of ₹21,000
• Year 1874 – Jamsetji established a textile mill in Nagpur.
• Year 1892 – Jamsetji established the JN Tata Endowment Fund to help Indian students continue their studies abroad.
• Year 1903 – The Taj Mahal Hotel was opened for business.
• Year 1904 – Jamsetji passed away, and his son, Sir Dorabji Tata, became the Chairman in 1904.
• Year 1907 – Sir Dorabji’s first establishment, the Tata Iron and Steel Company.
• Year 1907 – Tata opened their group’s first overseas office in London.
• Year 1909 – The Indian Institute of Science was established, and the first batch of students was admitted in 1911.
• Year 1910 – Tata Power was born.
• Year 1917 – The group makes its consumer space debut with Tata Oil Mills Co (TOMCO), with popular soap brands Hamam and Moti. It was sold to Hindustan Lever in 1984.
• Year 1929 – JRD Tata receives the first pilot license in India, culminating in a childhood fascination with flying and legendary aviator Louis Bleriot.
• Year 1932 – ATA Airlines (later Air India) was born.
• Year 1939 – Tata Chemicals incorporated in Mithapur. 
• Year 1941 – The Tata Memorial Hospital for cancer treatment in the country and access to cancer care for all commissioned by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.
• Year 1945 – Establishment of Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company.
• Year 1945 – JRD Tata and Homi Bhabha established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
• Year 1946 – Naval Tata was named President of the Indian Hockey Association.
• Year 1952 – The group launches India’s first cosmetics brand, Lakme. It was sold to Hindustan Unilever, along with TOMCO, in 1984.
• Year 1954 – Voltas was incorporated.
• Year 1954 – TELCO entered the commercial vehicle space, and the first Tata Mercedes-Benz truck rolled out in six months.
• Year 1962 – The country wakes up to a cup of Tata Finlay (later, the iconic Tata Tea; now, Tata Global Beverages).
• Year 1962 – Tata Exports (now Tata International) was set up, focusing on trading & distribution and manufacturing leather products.
• Year 1968 – India’s first software services company, Tata Consultancy Services, has a presence in 46 countries.
• Year 1969 – Entered the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
• Year 1982 – The Taj Group accelerated its international expansion.
• Year 1983 – Tata Salt became the country’s first iodized branded salt.
• Year 1984 – The group grows in a reliable watch-needy market with its new Titan Industries.
• Year 1991 – TELCO (now Tata Motors) moved to the passenger vehicle space with Tata Sierra and Tata Estate (1992).
• Year 1991 – JRD Tata established the Tata Central Archives in Mumbai.
• Year 1991 – JRD Tata stepped down as Chairman, naming Ratan N Tata as the new Tata chairman. Under whom the group grew into a $100 billion enterprise.
• Year 1992 – Titan launches Raga, making space in the women’s watch segment. Simultaneously, Fastrack (1998) became an iconic youth brand.
• Year 1992 – JRD Tata was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, for his contribution to nation-building, and he also won the UN Population Award this year.
• Year 1994 – Launch of Tanishq.
• Year 1998 – Tata Indica, India’s and Tata Safari, launched by TELCO (now Tata Motors).
• Year 2000 – Tata Tea acquired the iconic, then 160-year-old, British Tetley group. 
• Year 2001 – Introduced Tata AIG this year and Tata AIA in 2000.
• Year 2002 – The Tata group established Tata Communications. The company became a global leader in network solutions.
• Year 2003 – TCS became the first Indian software company to cross one billion dollars in revenues. It went public in 2004 as the largest IPO in India, raising nearly $1.2 billion.
• Year 2004 – Tata Motors acquired the heavy vehicles unit of Daewoo Motors.
• Year 2006 – The group also became an entertainment provider, and Tata Sky (now Tata Play) was discovered.
• Year 2006 – Croma became India’s first national chain of multi-brand outlets for consumer electronics and durables as launched.
• Year 2007 – Tata Steel acquired Corus (now Tata Steel Europe). It became Europe’s second-largest steel producer.
• Year 2008 – Tata Motors unveils the Tata Nano to make safe transport affordable to millions.
• Year 2011 – Ratan Tata inaugurated Tata Medical Center.
• Year 2012 – coffee lovers welcome TGBL’s JV with an international coffee giant, Starbucks. 
• Year 2014 – Bombay House became the first heritage building in India to receive a gold rating from Indian Green Building Council. Two years later, it received a platinum rating.
• Year 2014 – The group introduced AirAsia India, a low-cost airline. 
• Year 2015 – The group followed up that development with Vistara with Singapore Airlines.
• Year 2017 – N. Chandrasekaran, the Board of Directors, appointed the new Chairman of Tata Sons.
• Year 2017 – The Tata group was the new title sponsor of Asia’s most prestigious marathon for 10 years, the Mumbai Marathon. The Tata group and TCS jointly sponsored it.
• Year 2017 – TCS and Cornell Tech inaugurated the Tata Innovation Center with a $50 million investment by TCS.
• Year 2018 – Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp signed a landmark JV to create a new, strong pan-European steel company.
• Year 2018 – TCS became the first listed Indian IT company to breach $100 billion in market capitalization.
• Year 2019 – In May 2019, Tata Global Beverages and Tata Chemicals announced a transaction to combine their consumer brands and create a new entity, Tata Consumer Products Ltd.
• Year 2019 – With its brand value growing by 37 per cent to $19.6 billion, it became the fastest-growing and most valuable brand among the top 25. 
• Year 2021-22 – Tata net worth increased by 9%. Each Tata Group brand or business is operated independently by its board of directors.

Tata Group Subsidiaries

The group has several operating companies across multiple business sectors- communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products, and chemicals.

Tata Group Subsidiaries: Overview

Following is detailed information about some of the Tata subsidiaries. Let us begin-

• Nelco Limited

Nelco Limited is an India-based company. The Company provides systems and solutions for tiny aperture terminal (VSAT) connectivity and integrated security & surveillance.

The Company has two wholly-owned subsidiaries: Tatanet Services Ltd. (TNSL) & Nelco Network Products Ltd. (NNPL). In addition, the Company is a subsidiary of The Tata Power Company Limited.

• Tata Chemicals Limited

Tata Chemicals Limited is a holding company. The Company operates through two business segments: Basic chemistry products and Specialty products. Its Basic chemistry products business is engaged in manufacturing inorganic chemistry products and serves various industries, such as glass, detergents, pharma, biscuit manufacturing, bakeries and other sectors.

Its speciality products consist of speciality food ingredients, such as prebiotics, formulations for feed, food and pharma customers, and speciality silica for the rubber/tire industry. It also provides crop care and seeds for the farm sector through its subsidiary, Rallis India Limited. 

• Tata Coffee Limited

Tata Coffee Limited is an India-based company that produces, trades and distributes coffee, tea and allied products. The Company’s segments include Plantations and Value Added Products.

The Plantations segment includes cultivating, manufacturing and selling coffee and other plantation crops. The Value Added Products segment produces and sells roasted, ground, and instant coffee products. 

• Tata Communications Limited

Tata Communications Limited is an India-based company that is primarily engaged in the business of providing international telecommunications services. The Company’s segments include Voice Solutions (VS), Data and Managed Services (DMS) and Real Estate (RE).

The Company’s subsidiaries include Tata Communications Transformation Services Limited, Tata Communications Collaboration Services Private Limited, Tata Communications Payment Solutions Limited, Tata Communications Lanka Limited, and Tata Communications International Pte. Limited and TC IOT Managed Solutions Limited.  

• Tata Consultancy service

Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) is an India-based company that provides information technology (IT) services and digital and business solutions. The Company's segments include Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, Manufacturing, Retail and Consumer Business, Communication, Media and Technology, Life Sciences and Healthcare and Others.

Its services portfolio comprises IT and assurance services, business intelligence and performance management, business process services, cloud services, connected marketing solutions, mobility products and services and platform solutions. It serves industries including insurance, healthcare, retail, telecom and others.

• Tata Consumer Products Ltd

Tata Consumer Products Limited is an India-based company engaged in consumer product trading, production and distribution. The Company operates through two segments: Branded and Non-Branded.

The branded segment is sub-categorized as Indian beverages, Indian foods and international beverages. India Beverages are engaged in selling branded tea, coffee and water. Indian foods are involved in the sale of food products. International beverages are engaged in selling branded tea, coffee and water. 

• Tata Elxsi Limited

Tata Elxsi Limited is a provider of design and technology services company. The Company operates in two segments: system integration & support and software development & services.

Its software development and services segment is engaged in technology consulting, new product design, development, and testing services; consumer insights and strategy; visual design and branding; product and packaging design; user experience design, service experience design and transportation design and high-end content and three dimensional (3D) animation services. 

• Tata Investment Corporation Limited

Tata Investment Corporation Limited is an investment company. The Company invests in listed and unlisted equity shares, debt instruments, and mutual funds companies in various industries.

The Company invests in a portfolio of quoted and unquoted securities of companies, including Tata Companies, which are engaged in various businesses. Its primary sources of income consist of dividends, interest, and gains on the sale of long-term investments. The Company also invests in units of mutual funds, bonds, and venture capital funds.

• Tata Metaliks Limited

Tata Metaliks Limited is an India-based company which is engaged in the manufacture of foundry-grade pig iron. The Company offers end-to-end technical services, including charge mix and melting, moulding and core making, spheroidal graphite (SG) iron production and development, project-based consultancy, pollution control, customized training and testing facility.

 Its products offer applications such as pressure-tight precision castings, rolling mill rolls, motor and generator housings, automobile engine blocks, crankshafts and gears. 

• Tata Motors Limited

Tata Motors Limited is a global automobile manufacturing company. The Company’s diverse portfolio includes a range of cars, sports utility vehicles, trucks, buses and defence vehicles.

Its segments include automotive operations and other operations. Its automotive part consists of four reportable subsegments: Tata Commercial Vehicles, which have small commercial vehicles (SCV) and pickup trucks, and medium and heavy commercial vehicles. Intermediate light commercial vehicles and CV passenger vehicles. 

• Tata Steel Limited

Tata Steel Limited is an India-based steel manufacturing company. The Company is engaged in steelmaking, including raw material and finishing operations.

Its products include hot-rolled (HR), cold-rolled (CR), coated coils and sheets, coated steel coils and sheets, precision tubes, tyre bead wires, spring wires, bearings, galvanized iron (gi), wires, agricultural and garden tools, conveyance tubes. Its segments include Agriculture, Automotive, Steel, Construction, Consumer Goods, Energy and Power, Engineering, and Material Handling. 

• The Indian Hotels Company Limited

The Indian Hotels Company Limited is a holding company. The Company is engaged in short-term accommodation, restaurants and mobile food service activities. 

The Company primarily owns, operates and manages hotels, palaces and resorts under various brands, including Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta, The Gateway, Ginger, Expressions, ama Stays and Trails and TajSATS.

It also operates restaurants and food and beverage businesses under Golden Dragon, Wasabi by Morimoto, Thai Pavilion, House of Ming and Shamiana brands. 

• The Tata Power Company Limited

The Tata Power Company Limited is an India-based integrated power company. The Company is engaged in electric power generation, transmission and distribution, electronic products, and service businesses.

The Company’s segments include Generation, Renewables, Transmission and Distribution, and Others. The Others segment comprises project management contracts/infrastructure management services, property development and lease rent of oil tanks.

• Titan Company Limited

Titan Company Limited is an India-based company primarily involved in the manufacturing and selling of watches of her jewellery, eyewear and other accessories and products.

The Company's segments include Watches and Wearables, Jewellery, Eyewear and Others. The Watches and Wearables segment contains brands such as Titan, Titan Clock, Fastrack, Sonata, Zoop, Octane, Xylys, Helios, Titan Raga, Favre-Leuba, Nebula and SF.

The Jewellery segment includes brands such as Tanishq, Mia, Zoya and CaratLane. The Eyewear segment consists of the Titan EyePlus brand.

• Voltas Limited

Voltas Limited is an India-based company that provides air conditioning and cooling products, engineering projects and services.

Its segment includes Unitary Cooling Products for Comfort and Commercial use segment, which is engaged in manufacturing, selling and after-sales services of cooling appliances and cold storage products. 

Conclusion

Tata Group today is one of the largest conglomerates in India, with a wide-ranging presence across consumer, financial and infrastructure sectors.

The journey of Tata Group has been nothing short of remarkable, given the challenges faced by both the Indian economy and global economic conditions. However, the Tata group has emerged more substantially under the leadership of Mr Ratan Naval Tata and the supporting team.

Disclaimer: This blog is solely for educational purposes. The securities/investments quoted here are not recommendatory.