HISTORY & MILSTONES OF T A T A G R O U P S

G R E A T H I S T O R Y & M I L E S T O N E S OF T A T A G R O U P S A saga of vision, commitment and fortitude
1868 Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata starts a private trading firm, laying the foundation of the Tata Group.		1874 The Central India Spinning, Weaving and Manufacturing Company is set up, marking the Group's entry into textiles.		1902 The Indian Hotels Company is incorporated to set up the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, India's first luxury hotel, which opened in 1903.
1907 The Tata Iron and Steel Company (now Tata Steel) is established to set up India's first iron and steel plant in Jamshedpur. The plant started production in 1912.		1910 The first of the three Tata Electric Companies, The Tata Hydro-Electric Power Supply Company, (now Tata Power) is set up.		1911 The Indian Institute of Science is established in Bangalore to serve as a centre for advanced learning.
1912 Tata Steel introduces eight-hour working days, well before such a system was implemented by law in much of the West.		1917 The Tatas enter the consumer goods industry, with the Tata Oil Mills Company being established to make soaps, detergents and cooking oils.		1932 Tata Airlines, a division of Tata Sons, is established, opening up the aviation sector in India.
1939 Tata Chemicals, now the largest producer of soda ash in the country, is established.		1945 Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (renamed Tata Motors in 2003) is established to manufacture locomotive and engineering products. Tata Industries is created for the promotion and development of hi-tech industries.		1952 Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, requests the Group to manufacture cosmetics in India, leading to the setting up of Lakme.
1954 India's major marketing, engineering and manufacturing organisation, Voltas, is established.		1962 Tata Finlay (now Tata Tea), one of the largest tea producers, is established. Tata Exports is established. Today the company, renamed Tata International, is one of the leading export houses in India.		1968 Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's first software services company, is established as a division of Tata Sons.
1970 Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company is created to publish educational and technical books. Tata Economic Consultancy Services is set up to provide services in the field of industrial, marketing, statistical and techno-economic research and consultancy.		1984 Titan Industries – a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) – is set up to manufacture watches.		1991 Tata Motors rolls out its millionth vehicle. (The two-million mark was reached in 1998 and the third million in 2003.)
1995 Tata Quality Management Services institutes the JRD QV Award, modelled on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Value Award of the United States, laying the foundation of the Tata Business Excellence Model.		1996 Tata Teleservices (TTSL) is established to spearhead the Group's foray into the telecom sector.		1998 Tata Indica – India's first indigenously designed and manufactured car – is launched by Tata Motors, spearheading the Group's entry into the passenger car segment.
1999 The new Tata Group corporate mark and logo are launched.		2000 Tata Tea acquires the Tetley Group, UK. This is the first major acquisition of an international brand by an Indian business group.		2001 Tata AIG – a joint venture between the Tata Group and American International Group Inc (AIG) – marks the Tata re-entry into insurance. (The Group's insurance company, New India Assurance, was nationalised in 1956). The Tata Group Executive Office (GEO) is set up to design and implement change in the Tata Group and to provide long-term direction.
2002 The Tata Group acquires a controlling stake in VSNL, India's leading international telecommunications service provider. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) becomes the first Indian software company to cross one billion dollars in revenues. Titan launches Edge, the slimmest watch in the world. Idea Cellular, the cellular service born of a tie-up involving the Tata Group, the Birla Group and AT&T, is launched. Tata Indicom, the umbrella brand for telecom services from the Tata Teleservices stable, starts operations.		2003 Tata Motors launches CityRover – Indicas fashioned for the European market. The first batch of CityRovers rolled out from the Tata Motors stable in Pune on September 16, 2003.		2004 Tata Motors acquires the heavy vehicles unit of Daewoo Motors, South Korea. TCS goes public in July 2004 in the largest private sector initial public offering (IPO) in the Indian market, raising nearly $1.2 billlion.
2005 Tata Steel acquires Singapore-based steel company NatSteel by subscribing to 100 per cent equity of its subsidiary, NatSteel Asia VSNL acquired Tyco Global Network, making it one of the world's largest providers of submarine cable bandwidth Tata Sons completes 60 years of Tata operations in the US The Taj takes over management of The Pierre, NY Taco acquires Wundsch Weidinger, Germany Trent acquires majority stake in India's largest, privately owned books and music retailer, Landmark Tata Steel acquires stake in Carborough Down Coal Project, Queensland, Australia VSNL acquires Teleglobe International Holdings, Bermuda TCS acquires Sydney-based Financial Network Services (FNS) Tata Motors passenger vehicle sales cross one-million mark TCS acquires leading BPO firm Comicrom in Chile The Indian Hotels Company acquires hotel run by Starwood, Sydney Tata Steel acquires Millennium Steel, Thailand Tata Chemicals acquires controlling stake in Brunner Mond Group, UK		2006 Tata Credit Card launched Foundation stone for the Tata Medical Centre unveiled in Kolkata TCS launches India’s largest e-governance initiative, MCA-21 Tata Steel ranked world’s best steel maker for the third time by World Steel Dynamics Tata Coffee acquires US-based Eight O'Clock Coffee Tatas join hands with Indigene Pharmaceuticals to build a global biopharmaceutical company Tata Sky satellite television service launched across the country Tata Steel begins construction of R670 million Ferrochrome plant in South Africa Tata Group acquires 30-per cent stake in Glacéau VSNL rebrands SNO as Neotel in South Africa		2007 Tata Refractories sets up Greenfield plant in China Tata Research Design and Development Centre celebrates silver jubilee Tata Steel acquires Corus TCS inaugurates TCS China — a joint venture with Chinese government and other partners Tata Steel acquires Rawmet Industries in Orissa Tata Steel, through its subsidiary NatSteel Asia, acquires controlling equity stake in two rolling mills located in Vietnam Tata Motors rolls out its 100,000th Ace within 20 months of the vehicle's initial launch Indian Hotels acquires Campton Place Hotel in San Francisco Tata Tea subsidiary, the Tetley group, signs an agreement to acquire the Vitax and Flosana trademarks in Poland, from Premium Foods. VSNL, through Neotel, acquires Transtel Telecoms, South Africa TCS sets up its first global delivery centre at Guadalajara in Mexico VSNL rolls out wi-max services in India Tata Tea takes the No 1 position in terms of volume share in India in the packet tea segment Tata Motors is listed on the world's largest bourse, the New York Stock Exchange, the second Group company to do so after VSNL Tata Steel celebrates its centenary on August 26, 2007 Tata Teleservices crosses the 1-million subscriber mark in Kolkata Tata Teleservices unveils the country's first full-fledged web-browser for mobile phones Tata Teleservices' subscriber base crosses the 20-million mark www.autojunction.in introduces auto e-retailing for the first time in India Tata Motors rolls out the one-millionth passenger car off the Indica platform Computational Research Laboratories, a division of Tata Sons, develops Eka, the fourth fastest supercomputer in the world and the fastest supercomputer in Asia VSNL is renamed as Tata Communications