Handed over the ropes of the Tata Group in 1991, Ratan Tata had just embraced the mantle of leadership when the diversified group's growth story had some parallels with India’s economic growth story as well. As India took its leap towards liberalisation in 1991, Tata also worked towards revamping the Group, taking business decisions during his tenure that looked like failure to his critics, but helped turn around the fortunes of many group companies - both in domestic operations and the group's global footprint. From Tata Tea’s acquisition of Tetley in the year 2000 to acquiring the UK-based Corus Group in 2007 and reviving the once-struggling British luxury car manufacturer, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) post acquisition in 2008, Tata set the ball rolling on the Group’s presence overseas, charting out a path for other companies to follow. The $12 billion acquisition of Corus at a time when it was four times the size of Tata Steel marked a big milestone in Indian industry’s forays abroad. Close on the heels of the acquisition of Corus in 2007, Hindalco Industries, a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group, acquired American aluminium manufacturing company Novelis Inc. for $6 billion. The decade from Tetley’s takeover to the time Ratan Tata left the Group in 2012 also marked the most remarkable phase for outbound investments from India. Between 2001-2012, there were around 1,135 overseas acquisitions by Indian companies with the majority share of software and business services. Global expansion, modernising the Group Ratan Tata focused on modernising the group's operations, fostering innovation, and expanding globally. The goal of internationalising the operations of the diversified business was stated by him in 2004 when he expressed optimism about making it a global group that is “at home in the world.” “I hope that a hundred years from now we will spread our wings far beyond India, that we become a global group, operating in many countries, an Indian business conglomerate that is at home in the world, carrying the same sense of trust that we do today,” he had said. What had once looked like risky investment decisions to his critics have turned into success stories as was seen in the case of JLR that achieved its highest-ever full-year revenue of $38 billion last financial year, following a remarkable turnaround after Tata Motors, led by Ratan Tata, acquired the brand in 2008 from its American owners, Ford Motor Company, for $2.3 billion. This acquisition marked a reversal of fortunes from 1999, when Ratan Tata had approached Ford to sell his struggling car business and the deal fell through after the Tatas felt put down by Ford executives, who implied they were doing Tata a favour by buying the Indian carmaker. His acutely unique business choices were not just limited to overseas but also domestic shores. After taking charge at the company's automotive arm TELCO (rebranded subsequently to Tata Motors), he introduced two car models - Tata Sierra and Tata Estate. Even though he faced internal opposition, Tata laid out his plans to make India’s first fully indigenous car. In 1998, under his leadership, Tata Motors launched the first passenger hatchback, Tata Indica. With him at helm, Tata Motors not only established an ambitious global presence but also catalysed the growth of the Indian automobile manufacturing sector. Tata AutoComp Systems, established in 1995, supported the burgeoning automobile industry in India by supplying components across passenger and commercial vehicle segments. Under Ratan Tata’s leadership, Tata Group’s revenue jumped from approximately $5 billion in 1991 to $100 billion in 2011-12, as per Tata Trust. But the business expansion under Ratan Tata came after a sea change in the group’s style of functioning. Unlike the decentralised approach followed by JRD Tata, Ratan Tata sought to centralise power, which led to the ouster of the old guard and the Tata Group companies global expansion. IT sector play with Tata at the helm India’s rise as an IT giant since the 2000s coincided with the rising footprint of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) after it went public in 2004, when Ratan Tata was at the helm of the Tata Group. Later, TCS made history by becoming India’s first company in the technology sector to achieve a market capitalisation of $100 billion in 2018. Moreover, the company plays a pivotal role in developing India’s IT infrastructure. TCS modernised and digitised India's passport services system through the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), drastically reducing passport processing times and enhancing customer service. Additionally, it helped modernise India's banking infrastructure by developing BaNCS, a global banking platform that is used by several major Indian banks for their core banking operations. More recently, TCS played a role in digitising India's tax and customs systems, making processes more efficient and transparent, and laying the groundwork for initiatives like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) infrastructure.
