Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons Ltd., was presented the 18th Madras Management Association Amalgamations Business Leadership Award 2014 comprising a citation and a memento by Mr. A. Krishnamoorthy, Chairman, Amalgamations Group, at a glittering function held in Chennai on August 12, 2014.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Tata said: “We should not try to follow, but try to lead. India can possibly teach some of the countries in the world how to run a successful business, and we don’t have to learn from the Western world. Business and the corporate world have to exist side by side, complementing each other’s role and moving together to make the country grow.”
He said the industries and the Government should collaborate in a proactive manner for growth and prosperity. The Government and the corporate sector have a combined task of moving the country forward. While the Government has its role in improving infrastructure and providing employment opportunities, the corporates have to be entrepreneurial and should have to generate the spirit that drives the economy.
Answering a question on how to make the ‘Made in India’ brand more powerful, Mr. Tata said it is regrettable to note that Indians in general tend to pull each other down needlessly, whereas in other countries business is pulling together. There is not much collaboration among Indian companies and not many research activities. “We have all the ingredients to do, but it is the attitude of not giving recognition to success that holds a lot of companies back.”
Asked about his vision for India, he observed that he would like to see an India where all Indians have equal opportunity and where one could find job based on one’s capability.
Paying rich tributes to Tamil Nadu, he said that the State has some of the finest industries in India which were built on values and technology, with a rich tradition that continues to change with time.
“India’s growth potential is enormous. It is for us to grasp the opportunity. We have got all the ingredients, and we should exploit them to the fullest extent,” Mr. Tata added.
In his felicitation address, Mr. R. Seshasayee, Member, BLA Selection Panel & Executive Vice Chairman, Hinduja Group – India, who was one among the Award jury, extolled Mr. Tata’s role and said: “Celebrating Mr. Tata’s legacy is celebrating the spirit of new India. Mr. Tata took charge of the Tata Group at a time when new India was breaking out of its egg shells into an assertive India”.
He quoted Gandhiji and said: “Be the change that you want to be in the world has been truly played out by Tata.”
In her address, Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman, TAFE Group, said that the name Tata is synonymous with nation building and that, during his over two decades of leadership, Mr. Ratan Tata took the group from a much respected Indian group to a globally admired industrial conglomerate. Under his stewardship, the Tata Group has grown 20 times in the past 20 years. “The Tata Group’s revenue generated outside India under the leadership of Mr. Tata grew from five per cent to 60 per cent,” she added.
The MMA Award was instituted in memory of the noted industrialist and Founder Chairman, Amalgamations Group, and also the Founder and past-President of MMA, S. Anantharamakrishnan, in 1969. Several industrialists who have received the Award in the past include J.R.D. Tata (1969), Arvind N. Mafatlal (1971), Aditya V. Birla (1990), C. Rangarajan (1996) and Sunil Bharti Mittal (2008).
Besides Mr. Seshasayee, the Award jury was constituted of Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, Country Head, HSBC Bank India, who headed it, Mr. S. Ramadorai, Vice Chairman, TCS, and Mr. Sunil B. Mittal, Bharti Enterprises Chairman and Group CEO.