Head of Tata Group Known for Social Responsibility

Yesterday in the Toronto Star there was a story by columnist Haroon Siddiqui about the head of Tata Group, the company that owns Tetley Tea, a man some have called "the rock star of Indian business."

His name is Ratan Tata, a man who by all accounts is a true philanthropist, and a scion of an old money family that famously funded Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian independence movement. The Tata business was established in 1868; Ratan Tata is the fifth head of the company.

Tata lives a simple lifestyle. He drives himself around on the weekends and and has lived for 30 years in a modest apartment in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). In 2008, following the terrorist attack on one of his hotels, he set up trust funds for all of those who were killed. The families of the dead employees will be looked after for life, and their children will be given jobs in Tata's company.

Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister John Manley welcomed Tata to Canada last week, saying that "We honour you for being exemplary in corporate integrity, social consciousness and responsible capitalism." Tata was in Canada to take part in a dinner lecture on Corporate Responsibility sponsored by the family of the late Thomas Bata and York University.

The Tata Group conglomerate has an annual turnover of about $30 billion and donates approximately 15 per cent of its profits to charity. "Two thirds of the company's ownership is posited in two family charitable trusts," Siddiqui wrote.