Today the nation remembers the “father of Indian Industry” and the founder of the Tata conglomerate, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, popularly known as JN Tata on his 119th death anniversary.
Leaders like Union minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Satish Upadhyaya poured in their tributes to the great philanthropist on Twitter. “Remembering Indian pioneer industrialist Jamsetji Tata on his death anniversary”, Gadkari tweeted.
About JN Tata
Jamsetji Tata, one of the biggest Indian businessmen of his time, was born to the scion of a family of Parsee priests, Nusserwanji Tata on March 3, 1839, in the Navsari town of Gujarat. At the age of 14, he started helping his father’s business.
Tata completed his graduation from the Elphinstone College, Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1858. Later he joined his father’s trading company and worked there for about nine years.
Formation of TATA group
In 1868, he established a new trading firm, with a capital of ₹21,000, which later became the TATA group. He further went to England where he learnt about the textile business. He purchased a bankrupt oil mill in Chinchpokli and converted it into a textile mill. In 1877, he established another cotton mill at Nagpur and named it “Empress Mill” after Queen Victoria. Later he established some other cotton mills at Coorla (Kurla) and Mumbai.
Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai
Once Jamsetji Tata was refused entry at one of the grand hotels of the UK, the Watson’s Hotel, which was restricted to ‘whites only’. Agitated by this insult to whole Indians, he got inspired to build a big hotel where not only Indians but also foreigners could stay without any restrictions. Finally, India’s first super-luxury hotel, Taj Mahal Hotel, came into being in Mumbai. By the time it was completed in 1903, it became the first-ever hotel in the country to have German elevators, Turkish baths and American fans.
The pioneer industrialist, who established the city of Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, breathed his last on May 19, 1904 in Bad Nauheim, Germany.
Jamsetji Tata was known as a great philanthropist. He generously donated to education and healthcare. EdelGive Foundation and Hurun Research India named him the greatest philanthrope of the last century. He also topped the list of the world’s top philanthropists of the 20th century.