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{{Short description|Indian businessman and aviator (1904–1993)}}
{{distinguish|text= Indian industrialist and founder of Tata Group, [[Jamsetji Tata]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = J. R. D. Tata
| image = J.R.D. Tata (1955).jpg
| caption = Tata in 1955
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1904|7|29}}
| birth_place = [[Paris]], France
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1993|11|29|1904|7|29}}
| death_place = [[Geneva]], Switzerland
| citizenship = France (1904–1928)<br />India (1929–1993)
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Businessman
| spouse = Thelma Tata
| parents = [[Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata]]<br />[[Suzanne Brière|Suzanne "Sooni" Brière]]
| relatives = See [[Tata family]]
| awards = [[Bharat Ratna]]
| known_for = Founder of [[Tata Consultancy Services]], [[Tata Motors]], [[Titan Industries]], [[Voltas]] and [[Air India]]
}}
'''Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata''' (29 July 1904 – 29 November 1993) was an [[Indian_people|Indian]] [[Aircraft pilot|aviator]], industrialist, entrepreneur and chairman of [[Tata Group]].

Born into the [[Tata Family]] of India, he was the son of noted businessman [[Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata]] and his wife [[Suzanne Brière]]. His mother was the first woman in India to drive a car and, in 1929, he became the first licensed pilot in India. He is also best known for being the founder of several industries under the Tata Group, including [[Tata Consultancy Services]], [[Tata Motors]], [[Titan Industries]], [[Tata Salt]], [[Voltas]] and [[Tata Airlines|Air India]]. In 1983, he was awarded the French [[Legion of Honour]] and in 1955 and 1992, he received two of India's highest civilian awards the [[Padma Vibhushan]] and the [[Bharat Ratna]]. These honours were bestowed on him for his contributions to Indian industry.<ref>A report in Vohuman.org {{cite web |title=Vohuman|url=http://www.vohuman.org/Article/JRD%20Tata%20--%20On%20the%20Islands%20of%20Tata,%20In%20the%20Ocean%20of%20India.htm |author=Amalsad, Meher Dadabhoy |access-date=11 April 2007}}</ref>

== Early life ==
{{See also|Tata family}}
J. R. D. Tata was born as king on 29 July 1904 to an Indian [[Parsi]] family in [[Paris]], France. He was the second child of businessman [[Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata]] and his French wife, [[Suzanne Brière|Suzanne "Sooni" Brière]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tatacentralarchives.com/history/biographies/15%20jrdtata.htm |title=J. R. D. TATA |publisher=Tata Central Archives |access-date=7 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202535/http://www.tatacentralarchives.com/history/biographies/15%20jrdtata.htm |archive-date=29 October 2013 }}</ref> His father was the first cousin of [[Jamsetji Tata]], a pioneer industrialist in India. He had one elder sister Sylla, a younger sister Rodabeh and two younger brothers Darab and Jamshed (called Jimmy) Tata. His sister, Sylla, was married to [[Petit baronets#Petit Baronets, of Petit Hall (1890)|Dinshaw Maneckji Petit]], the third baronet of Petits. His sister's sister-in-law, [[Rattanbai Petit]], was the wife of [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], who later became the founder of [[Pakistan]] in August 1947. Jinnah and Rattanbai's daughter [[Dina Jinnah]], was married to [[Bombay Dyeing]] chairman [[Neville Wadia]] who was the son of Sir Ness Wadia and Lady Eveylne Clara Powell Wadia. Neville and Dina had two children, [[Nusli Wadia]] and Diana N Wadia. Nusli is the current chairman of the [[Wadia Group]]. Nusli married Maureen Waida and they have two children, [[Jehangir Wadia]] and [[Ness Wadia]].

As his mother was French, he spent much of his childhood in France and as a result, French was his first language. He attended the Janson De Sailly School in Paris.{{sfn|Pai|2004|p=3}} One of the teachers at that school used to call him ''L'Egyptien''.{{sfn|Pai|2004|p=7}}

He attended the [[Cathedral and John Connon School]], [[Mumbai|Bombay]]. Tata was educated in London, Japan, France and India.{{sfn|Pai|2004|p=6}} When his father joined the [[Tata Group|Tata]] company he moved the whole family to [[London]]. During this time, J. R. D.'s mother died at the age of 43 while his father was in India and his family was in France.

After his mother's death, [[Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata]] decided to move his family to India and sent J. R. D. to England for higher studies in October 1923. He was enrolled in a [[grammar school]], and was interested in studying engineering at [[Cambridge University]]. However, as a citizen of France J. R. D. had to enlist in the army for at least a year. In between grammar school and his time in the army, he spent a brief spell at home in Bombay. After joining the French Army he was posted into a regiment of [[spahis]].{{sfn|Pai|2004|p=9}} Upon discovering Tata could not only read and write French and English,<ref>R.M. Lala: Beyond the Last Blue Mountains, Life of J. R. D. Tata</ref> but could type as well, a colonel had him assigned as a secretary in his office. After his time in the French Army, his father decided to bring him back to India and he joined the Tata Company.

In 1929, Tata renounced his French citizenship and became an Indian citizen. In 1930 Tata married Thelma Vicaji, the niece of Jack Vicaji, a colourful lawyer whom he hired to defend him on a charge of driving his [[Bugatti]] too fast along Bombay's main promenade, Marine Drive. Previously he had been engaged to Dinbai Mehta, the future mother of ''[[The Economist]]'' editor [[Shapur Kharegat]].

While he was born to a Parsi father, and his French mother converted to [[Zoroastrianism]], J. R. D. was [[agnostic]]. He found some Parsi religious customs like their funeral rites and their exclusiveness irksome. He adhered to the three basic tenets of Zoroastrianism, which were good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, but he did not profess belief or disbelief in God.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Biswas |first1=Ashit |title=For J.R.D,, service was religion – Industry icon died 10 years ago, but legacy lives on |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/jharkhand/for-jrd-service-was-religion-industry-icon-died-10-years-ago-but-legacy-lives-on/cid/789637 |website=The Telegraph |date=23 November 2003|access-date=24 November 2020}}</ref>

== Career ==
When Tata was in tour, he was inspired by his friend's father, aviation pioneer [[Louis Blériot]], the first man to fly across the English Channel, and took to flying. On 10 February 1929, Tata obtained the first license issued in India.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bombay Flying Club First Annual Report |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1929/1929-1%20-%200670.html |work=[[Flight Global]] |date=1 August 1929 |access-date=16 September 2011 }}</ref>
He later came to be known as the "Father of Indian [[civil aviation]]". He founded India's first commercial airline, Tata Airlines in 1932, which became [[Air India]] in 1946, now India's national airline. He and [[Nevill Vintcent]] worked together in building [[Tata Airlines]]. They were also good friends. In 1929, J. R. D. became one of the first Indians to be granted a commercial's license. In 1932 Tata Aviation Service, the forerunner to Tata Airline and Air India, took to the skies.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} That same year he flew the first commercial mail flight to [[Juhu]], in a de Havilland Puss Moth.<ref>{{cite web | title=Juhu aerodrome: Is India's first civil set to rise again? | website=Yahoo News India | url=https://in.news.yahoo.com/juhu-aerodrome-indias-first-civil-075449079.html | access-date=6 December 2020}}</ref>

The first flight in the History of Indian aviation lifted off from [[Drigh]] in [[Karachi]] to [[Chennai|Madras]] with J. R. D. at the controls of a Puss on 15 October 1932.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Air India needs JRD Tata's legacy once again to get back in shape|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/air-india-needs-jrd-tatas-legacy-once-again-to-get-back-in-shape/article36904875.ece|access-date=15 October 2021|website=@businessline|date=8 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref> J. R. D. nourished and nurtured his airline baby through to 1953, when the government of [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] nationalised Air India. It was a decision J. R. D. had fought against tooth and nail.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

He joined Tata Sons as an unpaid apprentice in 1925. In 1938, at the age of 34, Tata was elected Chairman of Tata Sons making him the head of the largest industrial group in India. He took over as Chairman of [[Tata Sons]] from his second cousin [[Nowroji Saklatwala]]. For decades, he directed the huge Tata Group of companies, with major interests in steel, engineering, power, chemicals and hospitality. He was famous for succeeding in business while maintaining high [[Business ethics|ethical standards]] – refusing to bribe politicians or use the [[black market]].

Under his chairmanship, the assets of the Tata Group grew from US$100 million to over US$5 billion. He started with 14 enterprises under his leadership and half a century later on 26 July 1988, when he left, Tata Sons was a conglomerate of 95 enterprises which they either started or in which they had controlling interest.

He was the trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust from its inception in 1932 for over half a century. Under his guidance, this Trust established Asia's first cancer facility, the Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer, Research and Treatment, Bombay in 1941. He also founded the Tata Institute of Social Sciences ([[Tata Institute of Social Sciences|TISS]], 1936), the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research ([[TIFR]], 1945), and the National Center for Performing Arts.

In 1945, he founded [[Tata Motors]]. In 1948, Tata launched Air India International as India's first international airline. In 1953, the Indian Government appointed Tata as Chairman of [[Air India]] and a director on the Board of [[Indian Airlines]] – a position he retained for 25 years. For his crowning achievements in aviation, he was bestowed with the title of Honorary Air Commodore of India.

Tata cared greatly for his workers. In 1956, he initiated a programme of closer 'employee association with management' to give workers a stronger voice in the affairs of the company. He firmly believed in employee welfare and espoused the principles of an eight-hour working day, free medical aid, workers' provident scheme, and workmen's accident compensation schemes, which were later, adopted as statutory requirements in India.

He was also a founding member of the first Governing Body of NCAER, the National Council of Applied Economic Research in New Delhi, India's first independent economic policy institute established in 1956. In 1968, he founded [[Tata Consultancy Services]] as Tata Computer Centre. In 1979, [[Tata Steel]] instituted a new practice: a worker being deemed to be "at work" from the moment he leaves home for work until he returns home from work. This made the company financially liable to the worker for any mishap on the way to and from work. In 1987, he founded [[Titan Industries]]. [[Jamshedpur]] was also selected as a UN Global Compact City because of the quality of life, conditions of sanitation, roads and welfare that were offered by Tata Steel.<ref>{{citation |work=UN Global Compact Cities Programme |url=http://citiesprogramme.com/cities/asia/india/jamshedpur |title=The glory of J. R. D |access-date=25 July 2013 |archive-date=26 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626142055/http://citiesprogramme.com/cities/asia/india/jamshedpur |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Support of emergency powers in 1975 ===
Tata was also controversially supportive of the declaration of [[emergency powers]] by Prime Minister, [[Indira Gandhi]], in 1975. He is quoted to have told a reporter of the [[The Times of India|Times]], "things had gone too far. You can't imagine what we've been through here—strikes, boycotts, demonstrations. Why, there were days I couldn't walk out of my house into the streets. The parliamentary system is not suited to our needs."<ref>{{cite book|title=The glory of J. R. D.|last1=Guha|first1=Ramachandran|publisher=Pan Books|location=India|isbn=978-0-330-54022-3|page=110|edition=2007|date=25 July 2013}}</ref>

== Awards and honours ==
[[File:JRD Tata 1994 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Tata on a 1994 stamp of India]]
Tata received a number of awards. He was conferred the honorary rank of [[group captain (India)|group captain]] by the [[Indian Air Force]] in 1948, was promoted to the [[Air commodore (India)|Air Commodore]] rank (equivalent to [[Brigadier]] in the army) on 4 October 1966,<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Air Branch) |page=634 |date=15 October 1966 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> and was further promoted on 1 April 1974 to the [[Air vice marshal (India)|Air Vice Marshal]] rank.<ref>{{Cite news|others=Special Correspondent|date=23 June 2010|title=IAF confers honorary Group Captain rank on Tendulkar|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/IAF-confers-honorary-Group-Captain-rank-on-Tendulkar/article16266599.ece|access-date=24 June 2020|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Several international awards for aviation were given to him – the [[Tony Jannus Award]] in March 1979, the Gold Air Medal of the [[Fédération Aéronautique Internationale]] in 1985, the Edward Warner Award of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, Canada in 1986 and the [[Daniel Guggenheim Medal]] in 1988.<ref>{{cite web|author=Sachin in IAF blues |url=http://www.stratpost.com/blog-honorary-commissions-in-the-iaf |title=Blog: Honorary commissions in the IAF |publisher=StratPost |date=23 June 2010 |access-date=7 October 2015}}</ref> He received the [[Padma Vibhushan]] in 1955. The French [[Legion of Honour]] was bestowed on him in 1983. In 1992, because of his selfless humanitarian endeavours, Tata was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the [[Bharat Ratna]]. In the same year, Tata was also bestowed with the United Nations Population Award for his crusading endeavours towards initiating and successfully implementing the family planning movement in India,<ref>{{cite web|title=Industrialists:JRD Tata – Made Tatas the largest Business House in India of his times|url=http://ewritersportal.com/jrdtata20thnov2010.html|access-date=10 April 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413150326/http://ewritersportal.com/jrdtata20thnov2010.html|archive-date=13 April 2014|publisher=ewritersportal.com|date=20 November 2010}}</ref> much before it became an official government policy.
In his memory, the Government of Maharashtra named its first double-decker bridge the ''Bharatratna JRD Tata Overbridge'' at Nasik Phata, [[Pimpri Chinchwad]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Deputy CM to inaugurate flyover today {{!}} Pune News – Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Deputy-CM-to-inaugurate-flyover-today/articleshow/30421359.cms |access-date=29 March 2020 |work=The Times of India |date=15 February 2014 |language=en}}</ref>

== Death and legacy ==
Tata died in [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]] on 29 November 1993 at the age of 89 of a kidney infection.{{sfn|Pai|2004|p=32}} He said a few days before his passing: ''"Comme c'est doux de mourir"'' ("How gentle it is to die").<ref>{{Cite book|last=LALA|first=R. M.|title=Beyond the last blue mountains|publisher=Penguin Books India|year=1993|isbn=0-14-016901-6|location=India|pages=1}}</ref>

Upon his death, the [[Indian Parliament]] was adjourned in his memory – an honour not usually given to persons who are not members of parliament. He was buried at the [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]] in Paris.

In 2012, Tata was ranked the sixth "[[The Greatest Indian]]" in an ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook magazine]]'' poll, "conducted in conjunction with CNN-IBN and History18 Channels with BBC."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sengupta |first1=Uttam |title=A Measure Of The Man |url=https://magazine.outlookindia.com/story/a-measure-of-the-man/281949 |access-date=11 February 2021 |work=Outlook |date=20 August 2012}}</ref>

== See also ==


{{div col|colwidth=20em|small=yes}}
*[[The Greatest Indian]]
*[[R. M. Lala]]
*[[Jamsetji Tata]]
*[[Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata]]
*[[Rattanbai Petit]]
*[[Dorabji Tata]]
{{div col end}}
{{clear}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
*{{cite book|last1=Pai|first1=Anant|title=JRD Tata: The Quiet Conqueror|date=2004| publisher=India Book House|location=Mumbai|isbn=8175084200}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata}}
{{Wikiquote}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100205064010/http://www.tatacentralarchives.com/history/family_tree/family_tree.pdf Tata Family Tree]
* [http://www.tatasteel100.com/people/index-jrd.asp Brief Lifestory of JRD Tata] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030193637/http://www.tatasteel100.com/people/index-jrd.asp |date=30 October 2019 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Lala|first=R. M.|title=Beyond the Last Blue Mountain: the Authorised Biography of J.R.D. Tata|publisher=Viking|year=1992|isbn=0-670-84430-6}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last=Mambro|editor-first=Arvind|title=J.R.D. Tata Letters|publisher=Rupa|year=2004|isbn=81-291-0513-6}}
* [http://www.newindiadigest.com/lala.htm Biography at newindiadigest.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113011733/http://www.newindiadigest.com/lala.htm |date=13 January 2020 }}
* [http://www.tata.com/aboutus/articles/inside.aspx?artid=UxG8Uwjyiks= Biography at tata.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814171946/http://www.tata.com/aboutus/articles/inside.aspx?artid=UxG8Uwjyiks= |date=14 August 2013 }}
*{{cite book|last=Lala|first=R.M.|title=Beyond the last blue mountain : a life of J.R.D. Tata|year=1993|publisher=Viking|location=New Delhi, India|isbn=978-0-14-016901-0|edition=New & updated}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Nowroji Saklatwala]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=Chairman of [[Tata Group]]|years=1938-1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Ratan Tata]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Chairmen of Tata Group}}
{{Bharat Ratna}}
{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}
{{Tata Group}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tata, Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:Aviation history of India]]
[[Category:Aviation pioneers]]
[[Category:Indian people of French descent]]
[[Category:Indian aviators]]
[[Category:Indian chief executives]]
[[Category:Parsi people from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Indian agnostics]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Bharat Ratna]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in trade & industry]]
[[Category:Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion]]
[[Category:Tata family|Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy]]
[[Category:Businesspeople in steel]]
[[Category:Businesspeople in information technology]]
[[Category:Businesspeople in coffee]]
[[Category:Chief executives in the automobile industry]]
[[Category:Indian founders of automobile manufacturers]]
[[Category:Bessemer Gold Medal]]
[[Category:Tata Group people]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Paris]]
[[Category:Cathedral and John Connon School alumni]]
[[Category:Indian Freemasons]]

J. R. D. Tata - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 20:02, 14 August 2023