Today, 28 December, is the birthday of 2 big business tycoons of India. Ratan Tata… a person who took the legacy handed over to him to a new level. He made the cheapest car in the country for the middle class, while adding the luxury car brands Land Rover and Jaguar of foreign company Ford to his portfolio. Today is his 87th birthday. This is the 92nd birthday of Dhirubhai Ambani. He built a company from the clothing business whose journey has spread from energy, retail to media-entertainment and digital services. These companies are a part of common life from breakfast to bedtime. In this story, we will talk about the innovations of Ratan Tata and Dhirubhai Ambani… Ratan Tata 1. Indica: India’s first indigenous car was launched on 30 December 1998
India’s first indigenous car Tata Indica was launched on 30 December 1998. This car was developed under the leadership of Ratan Tata, which was part of his dream of making an affordable and passenger efficient car for the Indian market. However, the initially launched model had some manufacturing defects. In such a situation, Tata called a meeting of officials and started working on the solution. For the short term, it was decided that the company would replace all the faulty parts by organizing countrywide customer camps. A huge amount of Rs 500 crore was spent on this. With this, the engineers started working on removing the manufacturing defects and launched the Indica V2 in 2001. It became one of the most successful cars in Indian history. The company stopped the production of this car in 2018. 2. Nano: Made a lakh-rupee car after seeing a family drenched in the rain
In an interview, Ratan Tata was asked where he got the idea of making a car worth Rs 1 lakh. He said, ‘I used to see many Indian families riding scooters. People used to travel on scooters, a child would stand in front of them, and the wife would travel behind with the child in her arms on slippery roads soaked in rain. There was a risk of an accident. I thought how dangerous a journey this is for a family. Can we provide a safe ride to such families? After this, we decided to make a new small car worth Rs 1 lakh.’ However, it was not that easy. On 18 May 2006, Ratan Tata announced that he would set up a Tata Nano car plant in Singur in Hooghly district of West Bengal. At that time, West Bengal had a Left government led by CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. Mamata Banerjee was in the opposition. Buddhadeb welcomed the Nano project, but Mamata sat on a dharna in protest against the acquisition of land for the project. Mamata’s hunger strike lasted for 24 days. One thousand acres of land had been acquired, but work could not start due to the protest. On 3 October 2008, Ratan Tata had to announce that he would shift the Nano plant from Singur to somewhere else. After this, Narendra Modi welcomed Ratan Tata to Gujarat. He offered 1100 acres of land to Tata to set up a plant at the rate of Rs 3.5 lakh per acre. Within a few days, the lakh rupee car named Nano was ready at the Sanand plant in Gujarat. It was launched at the Auto Expo in Delhi on 10 January 2008, the price of its base model was kept at around Rs 1 lakh. It was discontinued in 2019 after sales fell. 3. EKA: India’s first supercomputer
India’s first supercomputer ‘EKA’ was developed by Computational Research Laboratories (CRL), a subsidiary of Tata Sons, in 2007. It was a major achievement for high performance computing in India. ‘Eka’ is a Sanskrit word, which means ‘one’. Ratan Tata was not directly involved in the development of the EKA supercomputer, but as the chairman of the Tata Group, his thinking and vision played an important role in making this project a reality. Ratan Tata was always in favor of making India technologically self-reliant. By promoting advanced technology projects like supercomputers, he tried to put India on the global stage in high performance computing (HPC). Ratan Tata’s global vision did not limit ‘Eka’ to just a national project, but made it internationally competitive. In 2007, it was ranked fourth among the top 500 supercomputers in the world, which was a proud moment for India. Dhirubhai Ambani 1. Textile: Revolution with India’s first polyester filament yarn
Dhirubhai Ambani played an important role in making India self-reliant in the production of polyester filament yarn and making it globally competitive. Under his leadership, Reliance Industries revolutionized this sector and took the Indian textile industry to new heights. Polyester filament yarn is a synthetic fiber made from polyester. It is used in making clothes and textile products (such as sarees, dress material, and home textiles). It is a durable, low-maintenance and inexpensive option used as an alternative to natural fibers such as cotton and silk. In 1966, Ambani obtained a license from the government to manufacture polyester filament yarn. At that time, the production of PFY in India was limited and it was imported from abroad. He used modern technology and machinery for PFY production. Dhirubhai used PFY to make textile products under the Vimal brand, which became very popular in the Indian market. Understanding the Indian market, he not only made high quality products but also made them available at affordable prices. Earlier, India had to depend on foreign countries for PFY, but Dhirubhai’s efforts made India self-reliant in PFY production. He believed that to make the Indian textile industry world class, it would have to master synthetic fibers and PFY. 2. Petrochemicals: Establishment of the world’s largest petrochemicals complex
Reliance entered the petrochemicals sector in the 1980s. When the company felt the need for raw materials (PTA and MEG) to increase the production of polyester fiber and yarn for the textile industry, the petrochemicals complex was established. This helped the company to eliminate dependence on imports for raw materials and reduce costs. Reliance established the first major petrochemicals complex at Hazira in Gujarat, where production of polyester staple fiber (PSF) and polyester filament yarn (PFY) was started. This project became the basis for domestic production of petrochemicals in India. Jamnagar Refinery is today the world’s largest oil refinery. 3. Telecommunications: Reliance Communications changed India’s telecom sector
Dhirubhai Ambani decided to enter the telecom sector in the 1990s. His objective was to provide communication services to every Indian at a low cost. Dhirubhai understood that telecom would be a key sector for India’s industrial and social processes. After the 1991 economic reforms in India, private companies were allowed to enter the telecom sector. Dhirubhai recognized this opportunity and planned to make Reliance a leader in this sector. After the death of Dhirubhai Ambani in 2002, his elder son Mukesh Ambani and younger son Anil Ambani carried forward his vision in the telecom sector. When the division took place between the two brothers Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani in 2005, Anil got the telecom sector. It was decided in the division that Mukesh Ambani would not interfere in the telecom industry for the next 10 years, but Anil Ambani took such decisions in business which proved fatal for his companies. Eventually, due to the financial crisis, Reliance Communications applied for bankruptcy in 2019. However, in 2016, Dhirubhai’s elder son Mukesh formed Reliance Jio, which is the largest telecom company in the country today. Now some interesting facts related to both the business tycoons… Ratan was the chairman for 21 years, Tata Group’s profit increased 50 times He himself drove a friend 50 years younger to dinner Donated Rs 500 crore during the COVID-19 pandemic Ratan Tata was deeply involved in the group’s philanthropic arm, Tata Trusts. This arm of the Tata Group works in sectors such as education, healthcare and rural development. Throughout his career, Ratan Tata ensured that 60-65% of Tata Sons’ dividends be used for charitable causes. Ratan Tata donated Rs 500 crore to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Ratan Tata donated $50 million to Harvard Business School to set up an executive center. He studied here. His contributions have earned him global respect, further enhancing his legacy as a philanthropist and visionary. Dhirubhai gave Indians a mobile phone for 600 rupees ……………………………… Read this news too… Ratan Tata’s parents separated in his childhood, grandmother brought him up; seeing the family drenched in rain, he made the cheapest car. It was under the leadership of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awardee Ratan Tata that Tata Group launched the cheapest car in the country and recently bought the debt-ridden Air India in a cash deal of 18 thousand crores. Ratan Tata, who was very successful in business, liked simplicity in his personal life and lived in his small flat in Mumbai. Read the full news…
