Naval Tata | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1904-08-30)30 August 1904 |
| Died | 5 May 1989(1989-05-05) (aged 84) Bombay,Maharashtra, India |
| Occupation(s) | Industrialist,Philanthropist |
| Spouse(s) | Sooni Commissariat (separated) |
| Children | 3, includingRatan andNoel |
| Parent(s) | Hormusji Tata (biological father) Ratanbai Rao (biological mother) Ratanji Tata (adoptive father) Navajbai Sett (adoptive mother) |
| Relatives | SeeTata family |
Naval Hormusji Tata (30 August 1904 – 5 May 1989) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist who was a noted alumnus of theTata Group. He was the adopted son ofSir Ratanji Tata, and also the father ofRatan Tata, Jimmy Tata andNoel Tata.
Naval was born in Surat on 30 August 1904 to a middle-class family. His father, Hormusji Tata, belonged to a distant branch of the extended Tata family. Hormusji's grandfather, Navroji Tata, was the second-cousin ofJamshedji Tata. Both of them are descended from Bhika Tata. Thus, he was a Tata by birth.[1] His mother was Ratanbainée Rao, daughter of Cooverbai Raonée Daboo, the sister of Hirabai Tatanée Daboo, wife ofTata group founderJamsetji Tata.[2]
Hormusji was a spinning master in the Advanced Mills at Ahmedabad and died in 1908[3][4] when Naval was only four years old. After Naval’s father died, his mother relocated toNavsari, where she struggled to earn for the family. Ratanbai's income was derived from embroidery work.[3] Naval lived at the J. N. Petit Parsi Orphanage to make it easier to raise him.[3]
Navajbai, wife of Sir Ratanji Tata, adopted him from the orphanage at the age of 13.[3][4] Ratanji Tata was his maternal uncle because Naval's maternal grandmother and Ratanji's mother were sisters.
Naval later graduated fromBombay University in Economics and proceeded toLondon for a short course in Accounting.[3]
He never forgot his past and once remarked:[3]
"I am grateful to God for giving me an opportunity to experience the pangs of poverty, which more than anything (else) moulded my character in later years of my life."
Naval's first wife was Sooni Commissariat; they had two sons,Ratan and Jimmy.[5] Both sons never married or had children. The couple separated in the mid-1940s.[6]
Naval later marriedSimone Dunoyer, a businesswoman from Switzerland, they got married in 1955.[7]Noel Tata is their son.[7]
In 1930, he joined the Tata Sons as a despatch clerk-cum-assistant secretary and soon rose to be the Assistant Secretary of Tata Sons Ltd.[3] In 1933, he became the Secretary to theAviation Department and five years later, he joined as an executive in the Textiles Department. In 1939 he became the Joint Managing Director of the Tata Mills — the controlling company of thetextile mills run by Tatas and became its managing director in 1947.[3] On 1 February 1941, he became a Director ofTata Sons.[3] He took over as the managing director ofTata Oil Mills Co Ltd in 1948.[3][4] He was also the chairman of the Ahmedabad Advance Mills, aTata Group company based atAhmedabad.[8]
Over the years he became chairman of the othertextile mills and thethree electric companies. From an active director he later became the Deputy Chairman of Tata Sons. He was directly responsible for the management of the three Tata electric companies, thefour textile mills and theSir Ratan Tata Trust.[3][4] He was the longest serving colleague and close associate ofJRD Tata on board ofTata Sons.[9]
He also served as a director ofBank of Baroda with Tulsidas Kilachand,Rameshwar Das Birla, Arvind Mafatlal and others.[10]
Naval Tata went on to become an internationally recognised authority in labour relations, becoming a member of theInternational Labour Organization's governing body in 1949.[4] His involvement with the International Labour Organisation for over three decades was very fruitful for India. Naval holds the record of being elected to the governing body of the International Labour Organization thirteen times.[9] He was founder of ILO's family planning programme.[9] He is author of reports like — In Pursuit of Industrial Harmony: An Employer's Perspective by Naval H. Tata (1976), A Policy for Harmonious Industrial Relations (1980), On Wage Problem and Industrial Unrest by Naval H. Tata, C. V. Pavaskar, B. N. Srikrishna (1982)
In 1966, he had been appointed a member of the Labour Panel of thePlanning Commission set up by the Union Government.[3]
He contributed to sports, was associated with a host of other activities, and held senior offices in social, educational and welfare work. He was President ofIndian Hockey Federation for fifteen years and was at helm when Indian hockey team won Olympic Gold in 1948, 1952 and 1956.[9]
He served many other institutes like theIndian Institute of Science, the Bombay State Social Welfare Council, Swadeshi League, and the National Safety Council.[3][4]
As a philanthropist, theIndian Cancer Society was established in 1951 by Naval Tata and Dr.D. J. Jussawalla, which is India's first voluntary, non-profit, national organisation for awareness, detection, cure and survivorship of those affected with this disease.[11] He served as Chairman of the Indian Cancer Society for over 30 years.[3]
He was also the President of the Auxiliary Forces Welfare Association and trustee of several philanthropic trusts.[12]
He was President of the Employers Federation of India for several years.[12] Having been associated with the organisation for four decades, on his retirement as its president, he was made its "President Emeritus".[12]
He differed in opinion with his cousin and long standing colleague,JRD Tata. While JRD wanted to steer clear of politics, Naval stood as anindependent candidate fromSouth Bombay in 1971 but lost elections.[9]
Naval was awarded thePadma Bhushan by thePresident of India on Republic Day, 1969.[13] The same year he was given recognition for his role in industrial peace and awarded theSir Jehangir Ghandy Medal. He was conferred the life membership of theNational Institute of Personnel Management.[3]
He died on 5 May 1989 due to cancer inBombay.[3][14][15]
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