Sir Ratan Tata (1871-1918)

We conduct The India Corporate Governance Day to acknowledge that Sir Ratan Tata established the first significant permanent trust that changed the face of business in India forever. The trust made it possible to continue the ambitions of their father Jamshedji and for “the advancement of learning and for the relief of human suffering and other works of public utility.”

Sir Ratan Tata was born on the 20th of January 1871. With his brother Sir Dorab, he intended to bring India on par with the rest of the industrial developed world and to continue fulfilling their father Jamshedji Tata´s objectives.

His brother was the company’s chairman, while the younger brother Sir Ratan as the COO, made possible what their father had begun as he took charge of the business activities that laid the foundation of the Ethics and Integrity of Tata Sons as we know them today. He also managed the global trading firm Tata and Co, with international branches in Kobe, Shanghai, Paris, New York and Rangoon, trading cotton, yarn, silk, pearls, and rice.

Sir Ratan Tata was a philanthropist all his life; and sensitive to ordinary people’s struggles and desired to utilise his considerable wealth to enhance the quality of public life.