Jamsetji Tata | Pioneer Indian Industrialist and Founder Tata Group
An Indian pioneer industrialist, regarded as the father of the Indian industries. The one who set up the Tata industries when whole India was fighting for freedom, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.
He was born to Nusserwanji and Jeevanbai Tata on 3 March 1839 in Navsari, a city in south Gujarat. He was born in a decent, but poor family of Parsi Zoroastrian priests. His father was the first businessman in the family. He began exporting firms in Mumbai. He was blessed with a special mental arithmetic from a young age. At the age of 14, Tata joined with his father in Mumbai and studied at the Elphinstone College completing his education. While he was still a student he got married to Hirabai Daboo. After his graduation in 1858, he went on to his father’s export-trading firm, helping to establish its powerful branches in Japan, China, Europe and the USA.
Nusserwanji Tata wanted his son to be a part of the opium business. He sent Jamsetji Tata to China to get an idea about the business there and the details about the opium trade.
Establishment of Cotton Mill
When Tata travelled around China, he began to realize that trade in the cotton industry was increasing. He found that there is a great chance of making profit. This influenced him and invested the most in the cotton mill throughout his life. Until he was 29 he worked with his father. In 1868, he founded a trading company with Rs 21,000 capital. He bought a bankrupt oil mill at Chinchpokli and then converted it into a cotton mill in 1869. He renamed it as Alexandra Mill. 2 years later he sold it for profit. He wanted to set up more cotton mills at lower investment. He chose Nagpur and developed Empress Mill. Land was cheaper and resources were easily available in Nagpur. He established the Dharmasi Mills at Kurla in Bombay and later resold it to buy the Advance Mills in Ahmedabad.
Jamsetji Tata developed the textile and cotton industry in India with advanced facilities. This was one of the many dreams which Jamsetji had fulfilled. He was a great supporter of the Swadeshi movement and even named Swadeshi Mill in one of the mills at Bombay.
Establishment of Iron and Steel
The iron and steel idea got sparked with Jamsetji when he went on a trip to Manchester to check out new machinery for his textile mill. He decided to set up an iron and steel company when he attended and got inspired by a lecture by Thomas Carlyle in Manchester. He made his heart set to build a steel plant that would compare with the best of its kind in the world.
This was not a simple task. Jamsetji saw his way being blocked due to the restrictions of the British policies. The torturous twists and turns the steel project took would have defeated lesser men, but Jamsetji remained steady in his determination to see his venture come into fruition. Throughout his way he had to suffer dislikes of people such as Sir Frederick Upcott who was the chief commander of the great Indian Peninsular Railway. He promised to “eat every pound of steel rail the Tata’s succeed in making.” There was no record of where Sir Frederick was the first ingot of steel that came out of the plant’s production line in 1912.
The concept of the TISCO was proposed by Jamsetji but was executed by his son J.R.D Tata.
Hydroelectric Plant
Jamsetji Tata, resolved to provide pollution-free, clean power to Mumbai. It was a city that was choking on the fumes of the boilers of the textile mills. He was inspired and thought of setting up one of the first hydroelectric power plants in the Western Ghats. It was set up with a hydel dam that would harness the power of flowing water to create electricity.
The hydroelectric power plant faced fewer challenges and could not be completed when Jamsetji was alive. Even though he could not accomplish this tough task, his sons Dorab and Ratan Tata subsequently laid the foundation for affordable and clean power for the city.
Establishment of Taj Hotel
Jamsetji made up his mind to set up a luxurious hotel after being denied his entry to one of the city’s hotels for being an Indian. So he diverted his mind to this project. The hotel turned out to be fancy. In 1903, the construction got completed which cost Rs 4.21 crore at that time. The hotel was soaked in luxury. It became the first building in Bombay to use electricity. The hotel was filled with innovative delights like American fans, German elevators, Turkish baths and English butlers.
While on a business trip to Germany in 1990 he became seriously ill. He passed away in a town in Germany on 19 May 1904, and was buried in the Parsi burial ground in Brookwood Cemetery, England. Jamsetji was a great prescient, and a man who was a great patriot.
