Around 100 companies spread across 7 major business sectors are listed under the Tata Group making it a global brand and all the credit goes to Jamsetji Tata. He is called the “Father of Indian Industry,” and Nehru Ji called him a one-man planning commission because his vision and ideas were so powerful that they impacted the biggest leaders of India and brought a revolution in the Indian industry.
He laid the foundation in 1868 by establishing a trading company with Rs 21,000 capital. Today on his 182nd birth anniversary, we have come with more interesting and inspiring facts about Jamestji Tata. Keep reading further!
Broke The Family Tradition
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His full name is Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata where Nusserwanji is his father’s name. He was born to a priest family of Zoroastrians, commonly known as Parsees on the 3rd of March in 1839. Everyone in his family thought that young Jamset would continue the family tradition and become a priest.
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However, his father was a businessman and had a trading firm. Jamsetji was an intelligent kid with great arithmetical skills so his family decided to send him to Bombay for higher education. After completing his education, he stepped into his father’s business.
He not only took his father’s business to a greater height but also opened his own trading company.
Cottonopolis Of India
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After 6 years of making a huge profit with his first cotton mill, Jamsetji sold the company and opened a new mill in Nagpur. The city was underdeveloped then and was seen as an unsuitable place for business by other traders.
His decision brought him the name “Cottonopolis of India” but soon he changed everyone’s vision by making his company the biggest success in Nagpur.
Supporting Swadeshi Movement
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Jamsetji was not only a great industrialist but also a truly patriotic and followed the principles of the Swadeshi movement throughout his life. These principles led him to explore ways to produce finer clothes and improve cotton cultivation across the country.
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Great Visionary
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Unlike other businessmen who were only interested in making a profit, Jamsetji’s vision was to make India the sole maker and larger exporter of fine cloths as India was famous for its primitive form of weaving technique. To reach this goal, he introduced the Egyptian ryot’s cotton cultivation technique and ring spindle.
His 4 Major Goals
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He had four major goals which were:
- Setting up a science institute for Indians for which he donated land and consulted Swami Vivekananda as well
- Opening a unique hotel
- Setting a hydro-electric power plant
- Establishing an iron and steel company
Only a third was achieved while he was alive, The Taj Mahal Hotel was the only hotel then with electricity in 1903. Rests of his dreams were successfully achieved by his successors.
From Jamsetji To Jamshedpur
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One more vision of Jamsetji was to make Sakchi a great city about which he wrote in a letter to his son. The city was later renamed after him by Lord Chelmsford in the year 1919 and since then it’s popular as Jamshedpur.
Throughout his life, Jamestji taught the true meaning of business to the industrialist. In 1904, he died following serious health issues and was buried in England.