1. Tata Industries
Tata Industries was set up by Tata Sons in 1945 as a managing agency for the businesses it
promoted. Following the abolition of the managing agency system, Tata Industries' mandate was
recast, in the early 1980s, to promote Tata's entry into new and high-tech businesses.
Tata Industries has initiated and promoted Tata ventures in several sectors, including control
systems, information technology, financial services, auto components, advanced materials,
telecom hardware and telecommunication services.
Areas of business
Tata Industries has two operating divisions which function as independent profit centres:
Tata StrategicManagementGroup: Anindependentmanagementconsultingdivisionthatassists
Tata as well asnon-Tatacompaniesinenhancingtheircompetitive edge.
Tata Interactive Systems:Amongthe world'sleadinge-learningorganisations,itoffersservices
such as projectmanagement,instructional designandgraphics,andtechnical know-how.
Tata Industries' main activities are:
To promote Tatas' entryintonew businesses
To maintainshareholdingin promotedcompanies
To investinoperatingcompaniestofacilitate growth
Board of directors
KRS Jamwal,executivedirector
RR Bhinge,executive director
AshishDhawan
IreenaVittal
FN Subedar
N Srinath
2.
Jamsetji Tata, the Founder of the Tata group, and his sons Dorab and Ratan, bequeathed
much of their personal wealth to the many trusts they created for the greater good of India
and its people. Tata Trusts holds 66 percent of the shares of Tata Sons, the promoter
holding company of the group.
The wealth that accrues from this asset supports an assortment of causes, institutions and
individuals in a wide variety of areas. The trusteeship principle governing the way the
group functions casts the Tatas in a rather unique light: capitalistic by definition, but
socialistic by character.
About the trusts
There are two principal Trusts operating under Tata Trusts' umbrella:
Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Allied Trusts (SDTT)
The Trusts’ operations broadly cover areas of
natural resource management and rural
livelihoods; urban poverty and livelihoods;
education; health; civil society, governance and
human rights; and media, art, and culture.
Allocations for individuals come under the heads
of medical grants and travel or education grants.
The 'allied trusts' component of the SDTT
comprises the Tata Social Welfare Trust, the RD
Tata Trust, the Tata Education Trust, the JRD Tata
Trust, the JRD and Thelma J Tata Trust, the Jamsetji Tata Trust, the JN Tata Endowment,
the Lady Tata Memorial Trust, and the Lady Meherbai D Tata Education Trust.
3. Indian Institute of Science
The Indian Institute of Science has produced Nobel
laureates, trained many of India's greatest scientists and
helped nurture some of the country's finest scientific
institutions
"What advances a nation or community is not so much to prop up its weakest and the most
helpless, as to lift the best and most gifted, so as to make them of the greatest service to the
country." It was this thought which motivated Jamsetji Tata, the founder of the Tata group, to
conceive of establishing an institution of advanced scientific education and research, the like of
which even England did not have, at the end of the 19th century.
Jamsetji Tata was convinced that national resurgence was only possible through multi-level
industrialisation, higher education and scientific research. "He was a visionary who had
personally established industries which were at the forefront of technology in those times.
Besides, he donated half of his personal wealth (14 buildings and four landed properties in
Bombay [now Mumbai]) for the creation of this institution," says Goverdhan Mehta, director,
Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
After consulting several authorities in the country, Jamsetji Tata constituted a provisional
committee to prepare the required scheme for the setting up of the Institute. On December 31,
1898, a draft prepared by the committee was presented to Lord Curzon, the viceroy-designate.
4. Subsequently, at the request of the secretary of state for India, the Royal Society of London
asked Sir William Ramsay, a Nobel laureate, for help. Sir William made a quick tour of the
country and found Bangalore (now Bengaluru) to be the most suitable place for such an
institution.
At the initiative of the dewan, Sir K Sheshadri Iyer, the government of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV,
the maharaja of Mysore, came forward with an offer of 372 acres of land, free of cost, and
promised other necessary facilities. Thus Jamsetji Tata's original scheme became a tripartite
venture, with the association of the Government of India and the Mysore maharaja.
In 1911, the Maharaja of Mysore laid the foundation stone of the institute and, on July 24 that
year, the first batch of students was admitted in the departments of general and applied
chemistry, organic chemistry and electro-technology. Since then, IISc has grown into a premier
institution of research and advanced instruction, with more than 2,000 active researchers working
in almost all the frontier areas of science and technology.
During past decades, Nobel laureate CV Raman, Homi J Bhabha, Vikram S Sarabhai, JC Ghosh,
MS Thacker, S Bhagavantam, Satish Dhawan, CNR Rao and many others who have played a key
role in the scientific and technological progress of India have been closely associated with the
Institute.
IISc has helped create and nurture other laboratories and scientific institutions within the
country. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the Atomic Energy Commission were
born here. In fact, Homi Bhabha wrote the proposals for creating both these institutions when he
was part of the faculty of the Institute. The Indian space programme, too, was developed here. It
also enabled CV Raman to undertake research in light scattering, which eventually won him the
Nobel Prize in 1930.
Says Dr Mehta, "Jamsetji's vision was that the Institute should commit itself to the quest of
excellence for the betterment of people. That has been IISc’s endeavour for close to a century: to
be at the forefront of research for the benefit of humankind and the people of India. It is a not a
one-time activity, but an ongoing process."
JRD Tata, the late chairman of the Tata group, took a keen interest in the Institute. He believed
that it should contribute not just to science but to society as a whole, while emphasising the
social relevance of science. "He took good care of the employees and even helped start the Tata
Memorial Sports Club, which he regularly visited," says NV Raghavan, the Institute's public
relations officer.
JRD paid great attention to the maintenance and upkeep of the buildings. Ratan Tata, Chairman,
Tata Sons, is continuing this legacy. In recent times, he has helped promote the Sir Dorabji Tata
Centre for Tropical Diseases and assisted with the maintenance of the structure.
5. Tata Memorial Centre
The Tata Memorial Centre is a comprehensive centre for
cancer research and treatment. It is a landmark on the
global health map where about 60 per cent of patients
seeking primary care are treated free of charge
About 10 to 12 million people the world over suffer from cancer. More than 50 per cent of them
are from developing countries. In India 800,000 are diagnosed with this dreaded disease every
day. At any given time, there are 2.5 million cancer patients in the country.
If you think this is bad news, there’s worse to come. By 2020, the number of patients globally
will shoot up to 20 million, and 72 per cent of them will be from the third world.
Is India geared to meet the challenge of this cancerous future? “The answer is no,” says Dr
Mohandas Mallath, dean (academic) at the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) in Mumbai. Cancer
rates in India are about 100 in a population of 100,000. As India ages, many more people will be
affected by this hydra-headed disease because cancer tends to proliferate among those in the 60-
75 age band.
“We need a Tata Memorial Hospital in every state,” says Dr Ketayun Dinshaw, a former director
of TMC. She lauds the extraordinary vision that made the Tatas set up a speciality cancer centre
6. at a time when there were only a handful of them in the world. Today, TMC treats about one-
third of the cancer patients in the country.
After Lady Meherbai Tata died of leukaemia in 1932, her husband, Dorabji Tata — the chairman
of Tata Sons and the son of the founder Jamsetji Tata — wanted to bring to India a facility
similar to the ones abroad where his wife was treated. After Dorabji’s death, his successor,
Nowroji Saklatwala, pursued this endeavour. But it was the support of JRD Tata that finally saw
the Tata Memorial Hospital, a seven-storey structure, opening in Parel in the heart of working-
class Mumbai on February 28, 1941.
In 1957, the Ministry of Health temporarily took over the Tata Memorial Hospital. But JRD Tata
and Homi Bhabha — the pioneer of India’s nuclear energy programme — had the vision to
foresee the role that radiation would play in cancer treatment, from imaging to staging and actual
therapy. Administrative control of the hospital was transferred in 1962 to the Department of
Atomic Energy (DAE). After four years, the Cancer Research Institute — set up in 1952 — and
TMC were merged.
Starting as an 80-bed hospital covering an area of 15,000 square metres, TMC now has more
than 600 beds spread over almost 70,000 square metres. The annual budget of Rs5 lakh in 1941
is now close to Rs120 crore.
TMC is a comprehensive centre for the prevention and treatment of cancer, and for research. It is
a landmark on the global health map and particularly important to this part of the world. Nearly
25,000 patients visit the clinics each year, not only from all over India but from neighbouring
countries as well. About 60 per cent of patients seeking primary care are treated free of charge.
Over the years, TMC has also realised the importance of preventive activities and is reaching out
to create awareness even in rural areas.
The centre lays a lot of emphasis on education in the field of cancer. Over 250 students, medical
professionals, scientists and technicians undergo training at the hospital. DAE has established a
new state-of-the-art research and development centre at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai (called the
Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer) to focus on research into
cancers relevant to India and South Asia.
“TMC as well as DAE — through its links with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and
Dr Bhabha — inherit their work culture from the Tatas,” says Dr Dinshaw. She recalls how
committed JRD Tata was to the institution. “In fact, it was because of his involvement and
concern that the hospital was shifted from the Ministry of Health to DAE.
Dr Dinshaw remembers JRD’s visits to the facility fondly. “He was such a towering personality;
we were all in awe of him. He was alert and committed. I especially remember his visit for the
celebration of the golden jubilee in 1991.”
Dr Mohandas, who has been with the centre for over 25 years, speaks warmly about the
association between the Tatas and TMC, which has continued to grow over the years. “Though
the Tatas are not directly involved with the centre, a large number of our patients benefit from
7. the financial support that the Tata trusts provide. We also get research grants. I was the
beneficiary of one such grant, which I used to set up the department of clinical nutrition.”
Dr Mohandas holds up the culture of honesty and integrity that has been inherited from the
founders. “An unusual phenomenon, a practice that we have followed since our inception, is that
we do not have a system of seeing only those patients that have an appointment. Every patient
who walks in is attended to.”
TMC is a classic example of how well private philanthropy and public support can work
together. And, as will be attested by the countless number of people who have benefited from the
skill and care that the centre provides, this is more than a hospital, standing as it does on the
frontline of India’s fight against a disease that takes no prisoners.
Tata Memorial Centre:A fact file
The Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) wasset upby the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust in1941. It was placed
underthe control of the Indiangovernment’sMinistryof Healthin1957. In 1962, TMH began
operatingunderthe government’sDepartmentof AtomicEnergy.
In 1966, TMH wasmergedwiththe IndianCancerResearchInstitute andrenamedthe Tata
Memorial Centre (TMC).Thisisa classicexample of aprivate institute partneringthe
governmenttoserve acritical publicneed.
Some 52,000 patientswere treatedatTMC in 2008, about 65 percent of themfree of cost. The
centre has 620 in-patientbeds(with98per centoccupancy) and treatsaround 140 patients
everyday.
TMC has collaborationswithmanycancercentresacrossIndia,amongthem, the Regional
Cancer CentresatAhmedabad,Thiruvananthapuram,Nagpur,GwaliorandHyderabad,the Civil
Hospital,Shillongand the JorhatHospital,Jorhat(Assam).
TMC has some 300 postgraduate anddoctoral studentsanditsown university.The centre has
residencyprogrammesingeneral surgery,radiotherapy,pathologyandanaesthesiology,super-
specialityprogrammesandresearch programmes.Italsoconductstrainingcoursesthatrange
fromsix to eighteenmonthsanddistance educationprogrammes.
The centre has collaborative initiativeswiththe WorldHealthOrganisation,the National
Institute of Health,WashingtonDC(USA),IARC,Lyon(France) andthe Bill andMelindaGates
Foundation.
In 2002, TMC set upthe AdvancedCentre forTreatmentEducationandResearchinCancer
(ACTREC) inKharghar,Navi Mumbai.Spreadover60 acres inMumbai’ssatellite city,ACTREChas
a clinical researchcentre anda cancer researchinstitute.
