“The group will probably look different over the next 10 years. But so long as there is still the same drive to make this an enterprise that operates with ethical standards I would feel very proud,” he said.
Ratan Tata said that over the next decade the face of the House of Tatas may change. “Within the conglomerate, there will be companies that were not there earlier and there will be companies that were there but may not be relevant in a decade’s time. They may have been sold or transferred to another company,” he said.
Next year, the House of Tatas will turn 150. However, the most important thing for Ratan Tata is that the group should not lose the values and ethical standards that have guided it over one-and-a-half centuries.
“I am very happy to see that we have held together for that period of time,” Tata said. “The group may look different in the next 30 years, but it should embody the same values and ethical standards. It should never forget that most of its earnings go to philanthropy, not in the pockets of founders and leaders and that it is doing something for the common good of mankind,” Tata added.
The Tata group is known for its charitable work, having granted endowments to premier educational institutions and other such social ventures. The philanthropic activities of the Tata Trusts, the key entities which control the Tata empire, have been in tune with the changing social needs of India.
Tata said the needs of India have changed through the years. For instance, he said, India had famines during British times, which doesn’t happen anymore. “We had a majority of people living in the rural areas, today there is a vast migration to the urban areas, creating an important issue of urban poverty and hardships that didn’t exist before,” he said.
Food shortages continue to exist in pockets, but water shortage never existed in the past but is an issue today. A much larger population, creating jobs and knowledge, these are all the issues of the changing times. “For the Trusts to continue to do what they did at the turn of the century would be to be sitting in the twilight thinking that the issues of the country are the same and to me, that would have been a disappointment. So the Trusts have gone through and are going through a transformation to make them relevant today,” he elaborated.
Tata said healthcare is a sector in which the Tata group is now devoting philanthropic resources to, including setting up a national cancer grid with the support of the government.
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